runs brooklyn/brooklyn runs

A Few Last Photos

2009-03-29T10:43:00.003-04:00

Recently I was going through some old folders on my hard drive and discovered several photos I'd never posted. I make no claims as to the quality (since there's probably a reason I hid them away in the first place), but here are a handful anyway. They were all taken during the second half of 2006.

East New York

Sunset Park

Flatbush

Bed-Stuy

Williamsburg

Bed-Stuy

Midwood

Sunset Park

Post-Election Note

2008-11-07T15:36:00.003-05:00

I'm so proud to be an (adopted) Iowan. It's been a long ten months since the caucus, but it's been worth the wait.

Our car last February. No one moves to Iowa for the weather.

Making it Official

2007-07-11T13:16:00.000-04:00

This shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone (at least anyone who's read this blog lately), but I've decided to officially hang up my running shoes and end the quest to run every street in Brooklyn. The final tally was 872 unique miles, or just over half of the total. I'll leave it up to my loyal readers -- all three of you -- to work out whether the glass is half empty or half full, but I figured it was time to own up to the fact that I'm simply not going to run the other fifty percent.

It certainly was fun while it lasted, though. I got to see just about every neighborhood in the borough (okay, I didn't actually run in Brooklyn Heights or Dumbo, but I've been to those places on other occasions), and ride almost every mile of subway. Along the way I also took over 2000 photos (some of which came out pretty cool, if I do say so myself), and met some great people. When I started this, one of my stated reasons was to "get to know the place a little better." Well, I think I did. You could probably blindfold me, drop me off anywhere in the borough, and I'd know (well, within a minute or two) where I was and how to get home. I might not have accomplished everything that I set out to do, but I can't complain, either.

So there it is. And, just in case anyone wants a little more information, I've included the following exclusive interview. It's followed by two of the first pictures I took when I moved here, before I even started the running thing. Enjoy.

So, you've ended your quest.
That sounds like it ought to be on a greeting card. But yes.

What happened?
A couple of things. The primary one is that I injured myself pretty badly. I started having problems with my hamstrings and heels as early as October or so. But I often tend towards obsessive behavior, and continued to run while I was hurt.

That was stupid.
Agreed. It just made things worse. I rested for eight weeks or so this past spring, and then went on a couple of short "trial" runs in April and May. I tried to pretend I was healed up, but I was still hurting. I'm just now starting to feel 100% again.

Any other reasons?
Well, the other big one is school. Ostensibly, I've been working on my PhD in history, and all I need for my degree is to finish writing my dissertation. But last fall, when I was running 50 miles a week, the whole thing became a major drain on my time. There was the running, of course, but also the subway rides to and from the day's run, the recordkeeping, the blog, and planning the next day's run. By October or November I was probably spending six hours a day on it. And afterwards, I'd be too tired to do anything with the dissertation. I don't think it's a coincidence that once I stopped running, I drafted a full 60-page chapter and part of another in just a month or two.

So you hurt yourself, and you want to write some long paper that no one will ever read.
Correct. Except it's actually more like a book that no one will ever read.

Duly noted. Was there anything else that led you to your decision?
I suppose I do have this habit of getting really excited about new projects, but then losing interest later on.

Like your dissertation.
Or this interview.

Although you didn't get anywhere close to running the whole borough, you still managed to run about half of it. Any thoughts about where you did run, what you did see?
I think what I liked best was spending so much time in the neighborhoods that people often forget are even part of Brooklyn. It's almost like there are two separate boroughs. There's the swath that runs from Greenpoint and Williamsburg through downtown and Park Slope, basically everything to the north and west of Prospect Park, with a little bit of Bushwick and Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights thrown in. And then there's everything else. But I ended up spending the majority of my time in the latter. I ran all of Flatlands, for example, and all of Gerritsen Beach. All of Mill Basin and Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend and Bensonhurst. And I was within a few streets of running all of Canarsie. I ran half of East New York, most of Borough Park, and a majority of East Flatbush, Sunset Park, and Midwood. The blogs and the mainstream media do a good job of covering places like Brooklyn Heights and Williamsburg. But it was really great to get at to see the rest of the borough. Even if it was at seven in the morning, and I was covered in sweat.

Speaking of blogs, what are you going to do with Runs Brooklyn?
I figure I'll just leave it up there. You know, as a kind of historic artifact -- all the maps and photos and everything. Or as a tangible reminder of failure, in case I ever get too full of myself.

What's next? Planning to embark on any other big endeavors you probably won't finish?
Who knows? Maybe I'll start writing a novel. But seriously, the big news is that Kate and I are moving next month.

Where to?
Back to Iowa City.

Just couldn't handle it here in the big city, huh? Maybe Christine Rizk was right, after all.
Yeah, she's good. But the move is mostly the result of other factors: First, I received a substantial writing fellowship for the coming academic year, and I really want to work on finishing the dissertation. In fact, with the fellowship money rolling in beginning September 1st, I'm feeling a certain obligation to do so. I figured that being in an academic setting -- with the university and my advisor right there -- would help facilitate that. Second, Kate loves living here in the city, but she's not digging the museum scene and wants to go back to school and get another master's degree, probably in library science. And finally, it's really, really expensive to live here. We've already got enough debt, you know? So last month I went out to Iowa City and rented us a little house with a big yard, in a quiet neighborhood. It's got a garage, and a basement, and a washer and dryer. I can bike anywhere I need to be in ten minutes. It's pretty sweet.

But Iowa's in the middle of nowhere!
Iowa City's a college town. There's plenty to do. Besides, I'll be writing for ten hours a day.

Are you going to start a blog out there?
My main goal for the next year is to work nonstop on the dissertation, and I want to minimize the distractions. So probably not. But I do hope to start running again.

Do you think you'll miss anything about Brooklyn?
Sure. I'll miss walking around, mostly, seeing the different neighborhoods. I'll miss a couple of restaurants. I'll miss seeing stuff at BAM. I'll miss the view from our kitchen window. I'll miss the Cyclones. And I'll miss being so close to everything in Manhattan, especially the opera. Kate's definitely going to miss her friends, but thankfully, I don't have any, so it's not as much of a problem for me. I was also going to say that I'll miss reading all the local blogs, but I suppose I can still do that in Iowa, and probably will.

Anything you won't miss?
Well, there's the G train, of course. Alternate side of the street parking. Car alarms. The BQE, that Target downtown, and all those kids with exactly the same haircut, tattoos, and eyeglasses. There might be others, but that's most of it.

What about Greenpoint? Will you miss living there?
To be honest, I got a little tired of living on a busy street, what with all the noise and everything. Otherwise, I suppose it's a perfectly fine neighborhood, although being neither Polish nor particularly hip, I sometimes felt a little out of place.

You're not hip at all.
True enough. But I think that only proves my point.

It seems that we're running short on time, so let's try to wrap things up. Two final questions: First, any shout-outs? Anyone you want to thank?
Absolutely. In fact, the most unexpected aspect of the whole running and blogging thing has been the amount of interest, encouragement, and support I've received. Even from complete strangers, some of which I'm now very pleased to call friends. In fact, there are a number of folks I probably ought to single out by name (at least first name -- you know who you are): Stephanie, Michael, Renee, Kristen, Susan, Kathleen, Don, Julie, Claude, Ron, Mel, and Dad. And special thanks to Linda, Bob, and Jen. Thanks again, everyone. Sorry if I let you down.

Last question.
About time. I feel like this has been going on forever.

If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
There are a few things, I guess. I wish I'd paced myself better, especially in the fall when things started really hurting. I think, in retrospect, that perhaps walking all of Brooklyn might have made more sense. Kind of like what Jen is doing in California. It would've taken longer, sure, but there'd be less opportunity for injury. And then I could've stopped and explored more places, gone into stores or museums or whatever. Oh, and I wish I could've had lunch or coffee with Christine Rizk. Seriously. It would've been a hoot.

That should do it. Good luck in your post-Brooklyn life.
Thanks. It's been fun.

The promised photos:

Red Hook

Park Slope

Walking

2007-06-10T08:54:00.000-04:00

Though it's pretty obvious I haven't been running lately, I've still felt the need to get outside and move around a little. So, over the past few weeks, I've started walking quite a bit, which seems like a good compromise for now. Most of the walks have been between five and seven miles long, though two weeks ago I made a 3.5 hour, 10+ mile trek that took me from Greenpoint down to the Williamsburg Bridge, over into Manhattan, up to the Queensboro Bridge, across into Queens, and then back home. Some of the shorter ones have included walking from home to a doctor's appointment near Columbus Circle (via the Queensboro) and walking to Union Square (over the Williamsburg Bridge).

A week and a half ago, I walked to downtown Brooklyn (I rode the G train home, though I think I could've walked back faster). Unlike some of the other long walks I've done lately, this route was entirely within the borough, and the route took me along a number of streets that I hadn't yet run on. They were "unique miles," in other words, but since I wasn't running I haven't counted them toward the total mileage or anything.

Not yet, at least. In fact, I'm not really sure what I'll do. Part of me thinks that walking might be a great way to see some of the neighborhoods I haven't spent much time in, and add some miles to my totals. But another part thinks that anything short of running would be cheating, for lack of a better word. Walking certainly has its advantages -- I can carry more stuff with me, it's much easier to stop and look at things, and I'm a lot less conspicuous than I am in sweaty running clothes.

But it's not running. I have to do some traveling over the next few weeks, so it's not like I have to figure it now. Anyway, here's a map of the route, and a few pictures from along the way:

5/30/07 (Walk)

Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Downtown

Distance: 4.94 miles
Time: 1:25
Pace: 17:12 (!)

click on the image, etc.

Leonard Street

Myrtle Avenue

Bedford Avenue

Willoughby Street

Schermerhorn Street

Robert Moses Wrap-up

2007-05-24T07:24:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, Kate and I went up to the Museum of the City of New York to see the final installment of "Robert Moses and the Modern City," the tripartite retrospective devoted to the impact and legacy of the former city planner. This one, titled "Remaking the Modern City," focuses mostly on roads, bridges, and other aspects of the city's transportation infrastructure (especially in Manhattan and the Bronx), though there are also displays on other projects like Lincoln Center and Central Park.

The exhibit (which, by the way, runs only through Memorial Day) evinces the same revisionist tone as the other two, and argues that the only way to fully assess the mark that Moses left on New York is through providing the necessary historical context, and by presenting both the man and his motivations as being much more complex than they are often portrayed. In other words, the remarkably pervasive caricature of Moses as imperial megalomaniac, decimating entire neighborhoods with haughty indifference, is both overly simplistic and ahistorical.

Not that the exhibits are especially apologetic, mind you. A focal point of this one, for instance, is a 10-foot long scale model of midtown with the multi-lane elevated Mid-Manhattan Expressway running where 30th Street used to be (see the picture below). It was never built, of course, and I don't think anyone these days can look at something like that without reflexively wondering, "what the hell was he thinking?" Other examples of Moses' failures and defeats -- like his proposed bridge connecting lower Manhattan and Red Hook, Brooklyn, which would have turned Battery Park into a multi-leveled maze of access ramps -- are presented as well.

Most of the current anti-Mosaic sentiment, of course, is derived from (or, at the very least, influenced by) Robert Caro's highly critical and widely-read 1974 biography of Moses, The Power Broker. But implicit throughout the entire exhibit (and just about spelled out at one point in the text) is the idea that perhaps Caro himself was a product of his time as well, and that the widespread sense of decay and doom pervading New York during the early 1970s necessitated pinning many of the city's woes on a scapegoat. Moses, who was at times demonstrably arrogant, racist, unconcerned about the lower classes, and who fervently wanted to reshape the city to accomodate the automobile, fit the bill perfectly. Now that the city has rebounded from its disco-era nadir, however (and become what is, essentially, a global luxury brand), these exhibits suggest that maybe it's time to take another look at things and reassess.

I'll leave it up to others to debate the details and argue about who's right or wrong or whatever. I don't know whether any ardent critics of Moses will have their views changed by these exhibits. In fact, I'd pretty much doubt it. But people often prefer simple explanations of things, and many tend to see historical events as black-and-white issues with clear heroes and villains. (As someone who's tried to explain to undergrads the complexities of events like Reconstruction, the Great Depression, and the civil rights movement, I speak from some experience here.) Overall, though, I think that the three exhibits generally succeed in their goal of demonstrating that the legacy of Robert Moses -- like virtually all history -- is sometimes much more complicated than it appears at first glance, and often defies oversimplification.

Anyway, don't forget to head up there this weekend if you've been meaning to see the exhibit. The portion at the Queens Museum of Art, by the way, runs through this Sunday, but the one at Columbia has already closed.

If you've read this far, and you're still interested in reading more on the whole Moses thing, try these articles in the International Herald Tribune, Metropolis Magazine, and the Washington Post.

Model featuring the Mid-Manhattan Expressway (looking west)

On Buses and Baseball

2007-05-16T09:22:00.000-04:00

Cities are noisy places, and no one who lives in a densely-populated urban area can honestly have much expectation of enjoying the kind of quiet environment found in a small town or suburban setting. Still, in the nine months I've lived in my current apartment, I've been continually surprised by just how loud things can get. We knew, of course, that by moving into a building facing a busy commercial district we'd encounter our share of street noise wafting up to the fifth floor. And considering the very modest rent we're paying for the sublet here, it was a tradeoff we willingly made.

There are two city bus routes that run right by our building, and the buses contribute significantly to the volume level around here. But until this morning, I never thought to check just how many buses we were hearing every day. It sure seemed like a lot, I thought, but was I just being overly sensitive to the noise? So out of curiosity, I spent a few minutes earlier today looking at the schedules for the B61 and B43 routes over at the MTA website, and counted the number of buses on the schedule that run by our place. And the numbers were pretty remarkable -- it turns out that a city bus passes directly in front of our apartment 434 times each weekday. Of this number, fully 374 pass by between the hours of 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM (since they run much less frequently at night) -- a rate of one every 2.5 minutes. That's a lot of buses. I guess it wasn't just me, after all.

On a completely unrelated note, Kate and I took the train up to see the Mets on Saturday and again on Monday. It'd been a while since I'd been to a game at Shea (at least since May 1994, as far as I'm able to tell), and we had a great time at both games (at the latter, we split scorekeeping duties -- I kept score for the home team, Kate for the Cubbies). I've always loved baseball, and I still get a kick out of going to a big league game.

That said, overall I prefer the more intimate setting (not to mention the cheaper tickets) that minor league ball offers. Now that I think about it, actually, I really miss seeing my Kernels up in Cedar Rapids. From 1997 through 2004 I had season tickets in the first row behind the home dugout, and probably went to 300 games. Maybe more. Over the years I got to see dozens of players who subsequently went on to enjoy significant success in the big leagues, including Albert Pujols, Adam Dunn, Miguel Cabrera, Jason Bay, Prince Fielder, and Joe Mauer. And those were just the visiting players. I have, of course, also been to games at Coney Island and Staten Island, both of which are great places to watch baseball. But since these teams play in a short-season league, opening day is still more than a month off. I guess I'll have to make do with the Mets for now (or head out to minor league games in Connecticut or Jersey). Anyway, I've included below a (crudely stitched-together) panorama of Shea Stadium, taken last Saturday from our seats in the last row of the upper deck.

And no, I haven't run lately. But I did complete a chapter draft this week, so that's something.

Notes on the Brooklyn Blogfest

2007-05-11T08:47:00.000-04:00

I'd be a poor Brooklyn blogger, indeed (if you can call infrequent posts about the state of my physical health "blogging," of course), if I didn't at least mention the 2nd Annual Brooklyn Blogfest, which I attended with Kate last night at the Old Stone House in Park Slope. It was organized by Louise Crawford over at Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, and a capacity crowd of well over 100 folks showed up for what was basically a two-part event. The opening half consisted of a more formal program with a number of speakers who talked about, well, blogs. And Brooklyn. And blogging in Brooklyn. Following this was an informal gathering with free food and drinks, and everyone just sort of mingling and introducing themselves, which I enjoyed very much (though we couldn't stay too long due to the late hour).

In the interest of providing some appearance of objectivity, I'd be remiss if I didn't offer two (relatively minor) criticisms, so let me get them out of the way. First, at several points during the opening half, the proceedings threatened to devolve into a rally against local developer/bogeyman Bruce Ratner. (To be sure, Ratner's Atlantic Yards project is one of the biggest and most controversial stories unfolding in Brooklyn right now, and I'm certainly no fan of zillionaire developers getting even wealthier through tax subsidies and incentives and the propagandistic manipulation of public opinion, but still.) Moreover, and on a somewhat related note, the invited speakers seemed to represent a relatively narrow cross-section of the local blogging community. Brooklyn, of course, is home to over 2.5 million people, but it seemed that the overall discourse was skewed a little too heavily toward neighborhoods like Clinton Hill and Park Slope and topics like gentrification and development. Not that these aren't important, mind you, but as someone who's logged considerable time over the past year goofing around and taking pictures in neighborhoods like Canarsie, East New York, and Gravesend (and, frankly, as someone who had a gross income last year under $15,000), I can personally attest to the fact that Brooklyn is a bit larger and more diverse (in terms of both geography and population) than might have been in evidence last night, and that not every Brooklynite is obsessed with real estate. Or can even afford a parking space here.

To be fair, however, both Ms. Crawford and Bob Guskind spoke eloquently about the need to support blogging in some of these underrepresented neighborhoods and by individuals outside the white, professional, upper-middle-class demographic that appears to dominate the community thus far. And regardless of where they were from or what they were taking about, all the speakers were thoughtful, smart, and clearly very passionate about what they are doing.

One of the major themes of the night was the ways in which the local, neighborhood-level work by bloggers fills the vacuum left by the tendency of the city's conventional media to turn its attention to Brooklyn only when reporting car crashes, fires, and shootings (I forgot who said that -- was it Steven Johnson? -- but it was a good line), and I completely agree. I certainly rely more on a handful of blogs than anything else for my local news. The work of bloggers is even more impressive when one realizes that very few of them get paid for it, either.

When all was said and done, I think that the Blogfest was generally successful, and I commend Ms. Crawford and all the others involved for their hard work in organizing it. I do hope it will become an annual institution, but also that it'll offer a more representative sampling of the incredibly diverse range of topics covered by bloggers doing their thing here in Brooklyn. Kate and I enjoyed ourselves, though, and I'm already looking forward to next year's event. Maybe I'll even have run a few times by then.

Whatever. As is my wont at public events, I kept a low profile -- I felt self-conscious even wearing my little name tag -- and appear to have successfully avoided all microphones and cameras (oops, except here). We sat near the back of the room, and I refrained from participating in the "open mic" portion of the evening in which some two dozen individuals briefly introduced themselves and their blogs. (I enjoyed watching this, though, as it was great fun attaching faces to names.) After the "official" program concluded, however, and everyone was mingling downstairs partaking of food and margaritas, I had the pleasure of meeting several folks whose blogs I admire and read regularly, but with whom I'd previously known only through email if at all. A brief rundown of my encounters:

Gowanus Lounge was the first local blog to pick up on my whole running thing last summer, and has been very generous with the links and stories over the ensuing months. So it was a real pleasure to meet Bob Guskind -- the hardest working man in the Brooklyn blog biz -- and discover that he's as affable and gracious in person as he comes across electronically. (This is particularly remarkable, of course, given the combined 17-hour days he puts in at GL, Curbed, and his day job.)

I was also pleased to spend a few minutes chatting with Claude Scales, the creative force behind the relentlessly eclectic, often-entertaining, and always-intelligent Self-Absorbed Boomer. It's the only blog I read regularly where I can find trenchant insight on both recent developments in astrophysics and the state of the Mets' pitching rotation.

Though I'll confess I was previously unfamiliar with his blog Old First, it was great meeting Daniel Meeter, blogger and Pastor at Old First Reformed Church in Park Slope. I was flattered to learn that he seemed to know who I was, and so in a belated effort to balance things out I've bookmarked his blog and added it to the links on the side.

I spent most of my time, however, talking with Patrick Kwan and Jason Das from SuperVegan. I know, it's not a Brooklyn blog, per se, but it's one of my favorite NYC websites, and Kate and I use their "Amazing Instant New York City Vegan Restaurant Finder" all the time. Well, at least when we're looking for somewhere new to eat. Anyway, I admire their enthusiasm, energy, and dedication to what they're doing, and it was terrific meeting them. Patrick even listened patiently when I momentarily slipped into academic mode and began to ramble on about my dissertation (which is, by the way, about the role of ethical vegetarianism within the broader progressive reform movement in the US and Britain from 1883-1919, just in case you were curious). Sorry about that, Patrick. But hey, if you guys ever need an official historian, well, you know where to find me.

That's about it. I had also wanted to say hello to Jonathan from Brownstoner and Brooklyn Record (and thank him for using a number of my photos on his blogs over the last year), but he was an awfully popular guy and I didn't get the chance before we had to leave. Maybe next year. Regardless, most of the people in attendance last night can no doubt offer a whole lot more on the event that I ever could, so check out these links if you're interested:

Blogfest: A Great Event (Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn)
Brooklyn Blogfest Rocks (Gowanus Lounge)
2nd Annual Brooklyn Blogfest Yearbook (Dope on the Slope)
Blogolicious Brooklyn (Crazy Stable)
Second Annual Brooklyn Blogfest (Brooklyn Record)
The 2nd Annual Brooklyn Blogfest, For Real (Flatbush Gardener)
Out of Brooklyn, Endlessly Blogging (NY Times)

Baby Steps

2007-05-01T09:05:00.000-04:00

Tuesday 5/1: Greenpoint & Williamsburg

Distance: 3.42 miles
Time: 0:30
Pace: 8:44
Temp: 54
Dewpoint: 36
Weather: Sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: none!

This morning, I woke up early and decided it was time to give the legs another test. So I headed out, hit the sidewalk, and ran a big loop through Greenpoint and Williamsburg. No, I didn't log any unique miles, and I didn't even take my camera with me. But it was my first run on my home turf here in Brooklyn in over three months (though I'd done similar half-hour runs two weeks ago in Georgia and four weeks ago in Iowa), and I realized after a few minutes that I'd really missed it.

But here's the thing -- most everything hurt. My hamstrings, my ankles, my chest, my lungs, everything. Of course, I realize that most (if not all) of this discomfort was directly related to that whole fourteen-weeks-of-physical-inactivity thing. But I also find myself in a real quandary now, with the desire to resume my pursuit of "unique miles" (at least in a limited fashion) pulling me in one direction and the nagging suspicion that I'm not fully healed in the other. What's an obsessive runner to do?

Not a whole lot, apparently. It's not much, but here's what I've come up with: I'll see how I feel tomorrow and the next day. If everything seems in order, with no major residual physical effects from this morning, I'll shoot for a "real" Brooklyn run this weekend or early next week. It'll be a short one -- no more than a half-hour, or about 3.5 miles -- but I'll plot out a new route, take the camera, and generally try to ease back into things. It's pretty safe to say that I won't ever approach my mileage totals from last fall, when there were some weeks where I logged more than 40 unique miles, and at a 7:30 pace, no less. Creeping physical decrepitude is part of the reason, of course (and I've got yet another birthday this Thursday -- seems like I just had one), and after the number I did on my body last year I want to be particularly careful about not hurting myself again. But there's also the matter of the dissertation. Since the University of Iowa has seen fit to throw me a substantial wad of money to write the damned thing, I'm feeling a certain obligation to buckle down and do just that. What I hope, however, is that I can start getting back to a routine, maybe running three or four times a week. And of these three or four runs, I'd like to devote at least one (and hopefully, two) to visiting more neighborhoods, covering more ground, and just seeing more of Brooklyn.

Whatever happens, I'm sure I'll write some needlessly long post here with all the details. So stay tuned.

Spring Cleaning

2007-04-28T09:46:00.000-04:00

Not much new to report of late. Mostly I've been plugging away at the writing, while still waiting for the legs to get back to 100%. I feel like I'm getting pretty close, but plenty of folks I know (and even a few I don't) have reminded me not to jump back into anything until I'm sure I'm completely healed up. Sound advice, of course, but it doesn't make me any less impatient. The only other news is that I received a fellowship for the next academic year, which will allow me to continue writing (and hopefully, to finish up) without having to worry too much about money, at least between September and May. Alas, I'll still need to look for some part-time work over the summer to carry me through until the funds kick in. If anyone knows of something that'd be suitable (after all, who doesn't need a part-time historian around the house?) be sure to let me know.

Anyway, over the last week I sifted through the dregs at the very bottom of the Runs Brooklyn photo barrel, and turned up what will probably be the final installment of pictures I've taken so far. I've posted about 30 new images on my flickr page, but I've also included a few below. It turns out that there's an interesting story behind the first one (which was actually taken on the Queens side of the Brooklyn/Queens boundary). Read all about it here.

78th Street between East New York and Lindenwood

Livonia Avenue, East New York

Nostrand Avenue, Midwood

Marine Parkway Bridge

5th Avenue, Sunset Park

Senator Street & 5th Avenue, Bay Ridge

Also in Bay Ridge, though I'm not sure where

Spring has Sprung... In Georgia, at Least

2007-04-19T09:42:00.000-04:00

You know, after those 70-degree days back in January, I thought maybe we'd somehow dodged winter here in New York this year. Alas, winter wasn't so much avoided as delayed, and so we find ourselves in the middle of April with weather more typical of February. Looking out the window this morning, the overcast skies and still mostly-bare trees are a depressing sight, and I find myself wondering if spring might ever arrive. (Of course, in six or eight weeks, when it's in the 80s and muggy, I'll no doubt find myself wishing it was still winter.) So while the main purpose of my brief trip to Georgia this past week was to visit family, the bright sunshine, warm temperatures, and general verdancy didn't hurt, either. I stayed with my folks in Augusta, but I also got to spend a little time with my brother Tim, my sister-in-law Rebecca, and my little nephew Christian, who live nearby. There's not a whole lot to do in Augusta, but it was nice seeing everyone, and I was able to take advantage of the terrific weather to run, walk, and simply sit outside reading.

I also got to see some more baseball, when my father and I went to see the local minor league team, the Green Jackets, host the Charleston (SC) Riverdogs. As if cheering against the visitors due to their major-league ties wasn't enough (they're the low-A, South Atlantic League affiliate of the Yankees), Augusta had won their first eleven games of the season heading into Monday's contest. The game was something of a slugfest -- the two teams combined for a total of 20 runs and 33 hits -- but Augusta emerged with their 12th consecutive win on a beautiful, cool, breezy evening. (The streak was snapped the next night, however, with a road loss in Columbus.)

And oh yeah, the running stuff. On Monday morning I gave my balky legs a second test-drive, heading out for a half-hour run around my parents' neighborhood. Apparently, the default setting for my running pace is right around 8:30, since I covered almost exactly the same amount of ground as I did on my tentative run in Iowa City almost two weeks earlier. Anyway, while I finished without being too winded, my legs hurt a bit more this time than they did after the Iowa run. I'll chalk it up (for now, at least) to the muscular atrophy one might expect in an (almost) 41-year-old body after ten or eleven weeks of inactivity, though I did experience some residual numbness in my left shin and the top of my left foot (neither of which I'd experienced before). Not that anyone's interested, but here are the details:

Monday, April 16: Augusta, GA

Distance: 3.52 miles
Time: 0:30
Pace: 8:31
Temp: 58
Dewpoint: 38
Weather: sunny & breezy

click on image, etc.

In any event, now that I'm back in Brooklyn I'll probably try to do a few more short runs over the next couple of weeks, sticking close to home and trying to (gradually) whip myself back into shape. If all goes well (and my legs haven't fallen off or anything), I might try a short run around some as-of-yet unexplored streets nearby (Greenpoint, Williamsburg, or Bushwick) sometime next month. Maybe it'll actually be springtime by then, too.

Blah blah blah. On Tuesday my dad and I walked for a few miles along the old towpath between the Augusta Canal and the Savannah River. Here are a few photos from that excursion:

A green anole. We saw quite a few of these.

A light on the side of a building. Obviously.

My shadow in the Augusta Canal. The camera's in my right hand.

Finally, congratulations to my friend Linda, who completed the Brooklyn Half-Marathon last Saturday with a very respectable time, despite some race-time health-related issues. Nice job!

Encouraging News All Around

2007-04-10T12:54:00.000-04:00

So I just got back from an eleven-day road trip out to Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. There was a certain recreational element, of course, but this was a "business" trip, for the most part, and the business was my dissertation. I put in an afternoon doing a little archival research at the Newberry Library in Chicago, for instance, and brought back almost three dozen books from the main library at the University of Iowa. More importantly, however, I had two productive meetings with my advisor regarding my dissertation. And though we discussed a good deal of specifics and he answered plenty of my questions, the principle outcome was exactly what I was hoping for -- a renewed sense of purpose, an eagerness to keep writing, and the (at least temporary) suspension of many of the insecurities and self-doubts related to fearing, as so many PhD students do, that my dissertation is the most irrelevant, desultory, and pointless academic endeavor ever conceived.

Of course, the handful of people still reading this blog are probably less interested in the question of when I'll finish my degree than that of when I'll resume running. So I'll also report that my visit to Iowa City included a stop at the student health department, the only place I can get a free non-emergency medical exam. I spent an hour with a physician there and had several vials of blood taken, but the results are very encouraging -- apparently, I'm pretty healthy. The doctor attributed my lingering leg pain (and occasional numbness) to nothing more than an inflammation of the nerves running from the base of my spine down my legs, and prescribed a basic treatment including stretching and conditioning exercises and over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. (She also strongly recommended that I engage in a physical therapy program for a few months, but it doesn't look like my insurance is going to pay for that, at least not here in New York.)

Kind of anticlimactic, really. My injuries, not unsurprisingly, seem to be the result of overdoing things (running exclusively on concrete sidewalks didn't help, either), but I should be able to get back on the road before too long. In fact, to celebrate the prognosis, I actually went for a half-hour run through my old neighborhood in town last Tuesday. It was my first attempt at running since late January, and I have to say that it felt pretty good. I was a little winded by the end, and I had some mild muscle aches the next morning, but I suppose these things are to be expected after taking ten weeks off. (If anyone's curious, the map and stats are below). Although I'll have to substantially reduce the pace with which I accumulate the unique miles here in Brooklyn (due to both physical and temporal constraints), the good news is that it looks like I'll be back running regularly within a few weeks. I've planned a short trip to visit my folks in Georgia later this week, but when I get back I think I'm going to take the first tentative steps toward running again. I'll probably just do some laps on the track over at McCarren Park at first, but hopefully, it won't be too long...

Tuesday, April 3: Iowa City, IA

Distance: 3.51 miles
Time: 0:30
Pace: 8:33
Temp: 44
Wind Chill: 34
Weather: overcast, breezy, drizzly

click on image for interactive map

Besides the encouraging medical news and the inspirational academic stuff, it was a full trip. I visited my friend Jay (who's on the faculty at Aurora University in Illinois), saw the Chicago Opera Theater's take on Monteverdi's "Il Ritorno d'Ulisse" (a terrific production, as usual), had coffee or lunch or dinner with a number of old friends, and visited with my friend Nat (a professor at UW-Parkside) up in Racine, Wisconsin. I also attended a reading by Brooklyn writer Jonathan Lethem at Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City.

Best of all, Nat had secured tickets to two Cubs-Brewers games up in Milwaukee. In fact, we actually saw three full games, since we stuck around for a UW-Milwaukee home game against Butler following Saturday's big league contest. Seeing some live baseball for the first time this season really made it feel like spring had arrived, despite the snow flurries and game-time temperatures in the 30s. (I am something of a traditionalist when it comes to ballpark architecture, but I was very glad this past weekend that Miller Park has a roof.) Anyway, the picture up at the top is of the Hank Aaron statue outside the stadium.

And speaking of pictures, here are a few more:

Looking east on N. Dearborn Street, Chicago

The view from the cheap seats at Miller Park

Indoor fireworks following the Brewers' win on Sunday, April 8

The gloomy drive home (I-80, somewhere in Ohio)

The Mundane, the Profound, and the Avuncular

2007-03-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

Several years ago, during my initial visit to Kate's place back in Iowa City, one of the first things I noticed was a large, framed photograph of a weary-looking older guy sitting in front of a weathered red barn. It was a striking picture, actually, with long, late-afternoon shadows stretching through the frame and the dark silhouette of a cow in the foreground. Before I could even ask, Kate explained that the man was her great-uncle Lewis, and that the barn was on the cattle ranch where he'd lived. The photo itself, she told me, was taken by her uncle David, who -- along with her aunt Kathleen and two cousins -- still lived on the ranch, just outside the small river town of Rio Vista, California. "They are the absolute coolest uncle and aunt you could ever imagine," she gushed, and went on to tell me how much she loved visiting there and spending time with that part of her family.

A year or two later I finally got to see for myself when Kate and I traveled out there to stay on the ranch for a few days, and I'll be damned if it wasn't true -- David and Kathleen really were that cool. Not only that, but the picture of uncle Lewis wasn't a fluke, either. David was a seriously gifted photographer, and the walls of their home were covered with photos he'd taken of things as mundane as life on the ranch and as profoundly beautiful as some of the forests and mountains and landscapes he was so fond of. And on top of everything, he loved baseball! He coached little league in town, and went with his family to big league games in San Francisco. (And even if I didn't fully appreciate what it meant to be a Giants fan, what did I care? It wasn't as if he liked the Yankees or anything.) Anyway, the point is that Kate was right. I quickly found myself feeling a little envious of her and her cousins, and wishing I was part of their family. This feeling soon passed, however, since Kathleen and David made me feel so instantly welcome it was as if I was family already and had been visiting the ranch all along. It was beautiful out there, too, with rolling hills and eucalyptus trees and clear dark nights with what seemed like millions of stars. I didn't want to leave.

Kate and I spent a couple of days there again just this past December, the highlight of which was a slideshow that David had spent the afternoon putting together. He'd set up the projector in the small, unheated poolhouse, and the sixteen or eighteen of us that had gathered at the ranch for the holidays bundled ourselves up and sat out there on that cold, clear, starry night and watched the images of him, Kathleen, and their friends in what were clearly younger days, hiking and camping in some of the most magnificent places I'd ever seen. There were the men, bushy-bearded and sunburned, climbing up some impossibly steep canyon wall in one slide; there was Kathleen edging along some narrow, crumbling ledge while smiling serenely in the next. I'd grown up in New Jersey, and was only vaguely aware that such places even existed. It was all just so incredibly... cool. Every once in a while Kate nudged me and arched an eyebrow knowingly, as if to say, "see?" All I could do was nod in complete and utter agreement.

Just two weeks ago, David died in an automobile accident. Kate called me from work with the news, then came home early and cried all night. In the five years I've known her I'd never seen her like this, and her first and only impulse was get out to the ranch as soon as possible and to be with Kathleen and her cousins. We booked a flight and were on our way to California a day and a half later. Kate spent a lot of time helping out around the house, and we met dozens of Kathleen and David's friends. I learned more about David, too -- more about his wilderness adventures, his photography, about what an enormous impact he'd made on so many people. And we went to the memorial service last Tuesday, which was held at Egbert Field, Rio Vista's little league diamond. It was the only place big enough to hold the hundreds of people that showed up. There, I learned even more about the ways he'd touched the people in his life, and heard his friend Andy tell a story about him that was one of the funniest things I'd ever heard. (Andy also put together a photo tribute to David which you can see here.)

Only two weeks earlier, my younger sister Mel and her husband Rob out in California had their first child, a little boy they named Nathan. Since our annual travel budget is pretty limited, and since we would already be nearby anyway, it seemed only natural that Kate and I also spend a couple of days seeing my newest nephew, and so we arranged to spend a day or two with them at either end of the trip. It turned out that Nathan was just as precious and adorable as Mel had claimed, and despite my nervousness about him wriggling free or breaking in my arms, she let me hold him for a few minutes. He was so tiny, so fragile, so beautiful! (I brought earplugs, of course, reasoning that at least one person in the house ought to get some sleep.)

But bookending something as sorrowful as David's memorial with something as joyful as seeing little Nathan felt vaguely inappropriate, the juxtaposition unsettling. After all, these elemental but opposing forces -- birth and death, the only two things any of us can ever really count on! -- are phenomena at once so mundane as to be banal yet so deeply profound that attempts to make sense of them lie at the root of almost every human religious impulse. I found myself looking for explanations, for ways to reconcile how our lives could be framed at once by such happiness and such grief, how they could even coexist. Needless to say, I didn't come up with anything. Plenty of individuals far smarter, and any number of writers far more eloquent than I'll ever be have pondered these things for whole lifetimes and still come up short, so I'm not going to pretend that I have anything to add.

After some reflection, though, I realized that my desire to comprehend these things was misguided in the first place. The intensity of the sorrow and loss felt by David's family and the pure maternal joy that fills Mel every time she looks at her new son are experiences that I will never know, nor probably ever even understand. Anything I'd try to write about these things would ultimately ring hollow. Eventually, however, I realized that what I could do is to endeavor to always remember the importance of family, to cherish time spent with them, and to hope that someday, one of my own nephews or nieces might be able to say to someone -- perhaps even their own future mate -- "hey, I've got this really great uncle that you've got to meet." Sure, I know I'll never be half as cool as David (and probably much less than that, given the deficit I'm starting out with), but it's something I can certainly work at and aspire to. And maybe, just maybe, in my own little way, I might be able to pass along to them some tiny spark, some momentary glimpse of the warmth and humor and generosity of spirit that David evinced, the depths of which I was only at the very beginning of understanding myself.

Now, if I could do that -- well, that would be very cool, indeed.

Here are a few pictures from the ranch. Spring, obviously, had arrived.

On Running (or Not)

2007-03-19T15:19:00.000-04:00

No, I'm still not running, though I have to admit I'm getting kind of itchy of late. Thankfully, any temptation to hit the road has been tempered by the craptacular local weather (last Friday featured something like sixteen non-stop hours of sleet), which is keeping me safely indoors and hard at work on the dissertation. This is probably a good thing, too, since my legs have been persistently refusing to heal on any kind of timely schedule. To be honest, I'm starting to get worried. My trip to Iowa City got pushed back to the beginning of April, so I'll visit the doctor while I'm out there and hopefully figure out what the problem is. I'm not quite sure how this happened, but besides meeting with my advisor, spending some quality time at the University library, and going to the doctor, it looks like this trip will also include some 17th-century opera and -- thanks to my pal Nat up in Racine, Wisconsin (who just picked up some super-cheap tickets on eBay) -- a Cubs-Brewers game in Milwaukee. Funny how these things work out.

But in the spirit of honesty, I probably ought to admit that even when I resume running, I'll most likely cut back substantially on the mileage, maybe doing one or two runs a week towards the "every street in Brooklyn" thing. Seriously, besides doing a number on my legs this whole endeavor has been a lot more time-consuming than it might seem at first glance (the record-keeping and map-related stuff alone probably took an hour and a half per run), and Kate's not going to support me forever. I've been making steady progress with my writing over the last two months, and I really need to keep the momentum going.

Does this mean I'm throwing in the towel? No, not yet. But maybe it'd be best to put things officially on hiatus for the time being -- that would at least free me from having to write these humiliating little explanations every couple of weeks. Sure, I'd like to finish what I've started, even if it takes a lot longer than originally planned. But when it comes right down to it, I'd still rather be "that guy who ran half of Brooklyn and finished his dissertation" than "that guy who ran all of Brooklyn" and didn't.

Oh, and since I mentioned my advisor, I should also mention Through Deaf Eyes, a documentary about Deaf history and culture which features interviews with him. It premiers Wednesday, March 21 on PBS stations nationwide (check your local listings, of course).

And, just for old time's sake, here are a few more photos from the Runs Brooklyn archives:

Greenpoint

Floyd Bennett Field

Bay Ridge

A Little More on the 1964 World's Fair

2007-03-19T12:57:00.000-04:00

In a recent post ("recent" being a somewhat relative term here), I reported on a trip Kate and I took to the Queens Museum of Art to see one-third of the new Robert Moses exhibit, after which we looked at a few of the structures left over from the 1964-65 World's Fair. Interestingly enough, my dad, John, had begun systematically digitizing old family slides going back to the early 1960s, and was easily able to locate some images from a 1964 excursion he'd taken to the fair with my mother and her parents. Some of his photos (especially those taken from atop the observation towers) offer a terrific view of the fairgrounds, so I thought I'd post a few of the pictures here in case anyone's interested. (Just to reiterate, though: these photos were taken by my dad, not me. I wouldn't even come onto the scene for another year and a half.) Anyway, the fair itself sure seemed like a weird enough place -- part amusement park, part corporate showroom, and part post-imperial sideshow.

Here's the Jordan pavillion in the "International Area." I'm not quite sure why it's shaped that way or what, if anything, it has to do with the nation of Jordan, but visitors could sample middle-eastern food and take in performances by "Arab dancers" and "military pipers." I'm assuming the picture was taken from the Sky Ride.

Here's a view to the northwest, taken from the observation towers. That's the unisphere in the back, of course, while the circular structures to the left are part of the Africa Pavillion, described in the official guidebook as "a hut-village on stilts" that featured "wild animals, tribal dancers, and a tree-hut restaurant." Uh huh. And to the right is the Greece Pavillion, in which a "sound-and-light show dramatizes Greek contributions to Western thought." Whoa. What would Socrates do?

This is a view to the east, looking out over part of the "Industrial Area." The circular body of water at the back is the "Pool of Industry," which housed the "Fountain of the Planets." This was the site of a nightly water-jet-and-colored-light show, which apparently featured fireworks and music including "The Ride of the Valkyries," "Ol' Man River," and the University of Wisconsin fight song. No, really! The white building beyond is the Bell System pavillion, and the structure to the right with the arching canopy is the pavillion where visitors could watch "To Be Alive," an 18-minute film presentation dedicated to the "joys shared by all living people." The pavillion's sponsor? Johnson Wax. Of course!

Finally, since we're on the photo-fueled nostalgia kick, here's a picture of me and my dad from late 1967. In retrospect, this could actually explain a lot.

Oh, and the picture at the top is of the Astral Fountain, a little south of the unisphere.

Another in a Series of Infrequent Updates

2007-03-02T13:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the infrequent nature of these posts lately. I've been diligently working on the dissertation, which takes up most of my time these days. And the deadline for applying for fellowships and grants and whatever in my department was a couple of weeks ago, so I was also spending quite a bit of time trying to put together a halfway decent application package. Which is a lot more time consuming that you'd think, since there are cover letters to write and CVs to update and five-page abstracts and one-page summaries to write and 40-page writing samples to polish and timetables to prepare. Believe it or not, the one-page summary was the thing that caused me the most grief. Trying to summarize something you've spent years researching and writing about in a format that short (and in a way that someone outside your field can understand) is kind of hard. But at least it's over for now. And besides, since so much of professional academia is related to either asking for free money or trying to explain your incredibly esoteric field of specialty to other people, the process was actually quite educational. Otherwise, there's not too much going on, though I'll elaborate on three points, just in case anyone's interested:

1) Last Saturday, Kate and I went up to the Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia to see the second of the three Robert Moses exhibits mentioned in the last post. It wasn't as big, space-wise, but we liked this one a little more than the one at the Queens Museum of Art. It seemed somewhat more critical of Moses, and included a number of items in display cases in addition to photographs mounted on the wall. This installment was titled "Slum Clearance and the Superblock Solution," and sure enough, that's what it was about. In fact, it was devoted entirely to Moses' use of Title I of the 1949 federal Housing Act to clear out swaths of tenements and other buildings deemed "slums" in order to build huge housing projects. While the exhibit does a good job of pointing out things like the ways in which community organizations often fought hard for their neighborhoods, it glosses over a few others that might warrant more attention.

Race, in particular, is one aspect of the history that we both thought deserved more space. It was duly noted that although Moses did, indeed, build middle-class housing in minority neighborhoods, this often served only to reinforce existing patterns of segregation. Furthermore, many of the neighborhoods that were razed were home to large Latino, African-American, and immigrant working-class communities, and since the new housing was specifically designed for middle-class New Yorkers, these people were often displaced and left with few, if any, other housing options. Yet the space devoted specifically to these issues was relatively small, and almost felt like an afterthought.

Overall, we liked the exhibit, and I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who's interested in these things. The space is fairly small, and I'd imagine the average museum-goer could take in the whole thing in an hour or an hour and a half. Oh, and did I mention it was free? And right across Columbia's Morningside campus (and a lovely campus it is, too) from the 116th Street stop on the 1 train? Looks like you're running out of excuses.

2) Yesterday was March 1, which six weeks ago I imagined would be pretty close to the date that I returned to running. And while the general physical state of my body seems to have improved over that time, the hamstrings are as bothersome as ever. In fact, I'm starting to get anxious about the whole thing. During some online poking around, I read in a few places that hamstring injuries can sometimes take months to heal, and that sometimes -- especially for the over-40 set -- even longer! Worse, there's the possibility it's actually a back problem rather than just strains resulting from overuse. I'll admit the six-week timeframe for resting up was completely arbitrary, but I thought if anything, it was conservative.

Because of the vagaries of my grad student health insurance policy, any non-emergency medical visits have to go through the Student Health deparment in Iowa City. But since I'll be back there to meet with my advisor later this month, I'll probably make an appointment to see an actual, living doctor. No, I will make an appointment.

In the meantime, all I can do is wait. The running-all-of-Brooklyn thing can wait, clearly, and I don't want to jump back in if I'm still hurt. Taking the time off wasn't so bad, either, since the weather here has actually been wintery for last month and a half. But this past week, there were a few days when you could almost feel spring in the air. And when the nicer weather returns, it's going to be really hard to resist the urge to just go out and run.

3) Finally, my sister Mel and her husband Rob had their first child last week, so I wanted to take a moment and welcome my newest nephew, Nathan, into the world and congratulate his parents on their procreative skills. Maybe the little guy will even grow up to be a runner, like his mom. In any event, congratulations, guys. And good luck.

And because I feel obliged to post a few photos, even if they have absolutely nothing to do with either running or Brooklyn, here are three from last week's museum trip up to Columbia:

The northwest corner of the library building

Looking west down the 116th Street walk

A lump of melting snow

A Trip to Queens (or, the Ghost of Robert Moses)

2007-02-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

So here's what's shaping up to be the semi-regular post where I check in, comment on a few things completely unrelated to running, and assure those few readers still hanging on that I am, indeed, alive and well. And just to get the injury update out of the way, I'll report that most of me seems to be healing up nicely, except for my hamstrings. I might actually have to break down and make an actual appointment with an actual doctor, which I've been dreading. But enough about that for now.

What I really wanted to mention was that Kate and I headed off to the Queens Museum of Art last Saturday to check out one-third of the much-hyped "Robert Moses and the Modern City" exhibit. Yes, only one-third -- the exhibit is actually spread out over three museums, including the Museum of the City of New York and the Wallach Art Gallery up at Columbia University in addition to the QMA.

Robert Moses, of course, was the controversial New York City urban planner who -- over the course a career that spanned almost 35 years -- arguably shaped the physical fabric of the five boroughs more than any other single person. Although never elected to any office, at various (and often overlapping) times he was the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Parks (1934-1960), Chairman of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (1936-1968), Chairman of the Mayor's Committee on Slum Clearance (1946-1960), President of the New York World's Fair 1964-65 Corporation (1960-1967), and New York City Construction Coordinator (1946-1960), as well as a member of the City Planning Commission from 1942 until 1960. He was, it would seem, a very busy guy.

During his tenure with the city Moses advocated, planned, and oversaw projects ranging from the building of bridges and superhighways to the construction of parks and playgrounds to the razing of whole blocks and the subsequent development of extensive public housing complexes. While few people might see fit to complain about the creation of public pools and green spaces, Moses has also been widely vilified, especially since the publication of Robert Caro's exhaustive biography, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, in 1974. Over the past three decades, it's become essentially an article of faith among many academics and community activists alike that Moses was a heartless megalomaniac, intent on imposing his rigid vision of the urban future on New York, not only at the expense of individual citizens but of whole neighborhoods. Particular criticism has been leveled at his pro-automobile policies, especially his determination to build a network of multi-lane superhighways throughout the five boroughs with little or no consideration for the people whose homes and neighborhoods were obliterated during construction.

It's not my desire, however, to jump into the debate or to take sides about either Moses' intentions or his legacy. Believe me, there's been plenty written already (click here for a recent Times article, or just start Googling). But the three exhibits are, clearly, a deliberate attempt to at least partially extricate Moses from the historical purgatory he's been wandering these last few decades. By emphasizing the broader political and cultural contexts within which he operated -- the contemporary infatuation with the International Style and the influence of Le Corbusier, for example, or the irresistible lure of federal money tied to interstate highway construction or the development of public housing -- the exhibits succeed in presenting Moses as, at the very least, a complicated figure who cannot be fully understood or analyzed without also considering the much broader picture.

Because of our background (Kate works at a museum, of course, and we both have our MAs in history) we found a thing or two to criticize, but overall we liked the exhibit well enough and are planning on hitting the other two before too long. In the meantime, though, I'd certainly recommend the QMA exhibit (which mostly consists of photographs and a few illustrations) for anyone who lives in the area and thinks they might be interested in such things. And even if you're not, there's always the panorama, which by itself is worth the five-dollar price of admission (and which was, indeed, commissioned by Moses for the 1964 World's Fair). I don't know the exact academic museum terminology, but I thought it was really, really cool.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the excursion:

A playground in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which now occupies most of the site of the 1964 World's Fair. Kate thought the fallen snow at the end of the slides would make a good picture. I agreed.

The Unisphere, built for the 1964 Fair.

The observation towers adjacent to the old New York State pavillion from the 1964 World's Fair. They're among the few structures still standing. The small, faintly yellow pod-shaped thing on the tower to the right (at the very bottom of the photo) is one of the elevators.

A portion of the panorama at the QMA, a 1:1200 scale model of the entire city. This view, naturally, is of Brooklyn, looking north over Coney Island and up toward Red Hook and downtown. That's the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (another Moses project) in the upper left-hand corner, Prospect Park in the upper right, and Kingsborough Community College in the bottom right corner, at the eastern edge of Manhattan Beach. It's kind of weird to think I've run all the streets in the bottom two-thirds of the photo.

The walkway connecting the Willets Point-Shea Stadium subway stop with the park to the south.

Kate waiting for the 7 train. She doesn't know I've put this picture up here.

On the way home, we stopped off in Jackson Heights for lunch. Although we've long enjoyed the various cuisines of the Subcontinent, Kate's developed quite a taste for them since her trip to India last summer. (She took terrific pictures, too -- maybe one of these days she'll put them up on Flickr or something.) This was in front of one of the stores we passed on the way to the restaurant.

Of Gyms and Germs

2007-02-12T12:27:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while, and I figured I'd post something really quickly just to prove that I'm alive. I'm still not running, of course, and am now over three weeks into my "recovery." Most of the minor aches and pains have indeed dissipated, though this primarily seems only to highlight how much residual soreness remains in my hamstrings and heels, the two places that have been giving me the most trouble all along. I'm not quite at the point of panic -- I realize it can take a long time for certain injuries to fully heal -- but I might be close. I really thought I'd be in less pain three weeks on.

Regardless, I've started going to the gym a couple of times a week, in an attempt to maintain at least a little cardiovascular fitness during my downtime from running. Believe it or not, I'd never really worked out in a gym before (running's been pretty much my only exercise over the last decade), and so everything seems new and fun and exciting as I learn both how to master the different machines there (which, as I discovered, isn't as easy as it looks) and observe the various aspects of gym culture and ettiquette.

This is going to sound somewhat weird, but I've particularly been enjoying the ritual of wiping down the equipment after I use it. Not only do the rivulets and errant drops of my own persiration provide a satisfyingly tangible proof of the physical exertion I've just engaged in, but I'm admittedly a little delighted by the sheer politeness of it. I realize, of course, that there are very sound sanitary reasons for such activities, but it also just seems so nice -- so civilized. "Hold on a sec," I'm thinking as I smile at the next person waiting to use the machine, "just let me wipe this down for you." Then, after I've quickly but thoroughly removed the remaining liquified evidence of my workout, a slight nod in the general direction of my successor completes the transfer, and I walk away happy.

Maybe, of course, it's just the post-workout endorphins. But seriously, can you imagine how much more pleasant city life would be if this kind of behavior was widespread? If people toweled off their bus or subway seats for the next rider upon reaching their stop? If customers at the supermarket quickly wiped down their shopping cart when they were done using it, and then presented it to you with a smile? If your co-workers actually cleaned the microwave in the break room after nuking their little container of SpaghettiO's that left a speckled coating of tomato sauce all over the inside of it?

It'd be a golden age, I tell you. Or maybe I'm simply discovering a neurotic, germophobic side of myself I've never had the opportunity to get acquainted with. Either way, I'm digging the gym. For now, at least.

Archival picture of the day:

Shell Road in Gravesend

"Reports of my Death..."

2007-02-02T12:17:00.000-05:00

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the full quote from Mark Twain which begins in the title of today's post: "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." This was part of a letter that Twain famously posted to the New York Journal in May, 1897, in response to an obituary the paper had printed earlier (the editor had apparently read a death notice for Twain's cousin, Samuel Ross Clemens, and confused the two). In the interest of historical accuracy, I suppose I ought to point out that the text of the actual handwritten note reads "... the report of my death was an exaggeration." Or something pretty close. Either way, the point is the same.

Anyway, regular readers here already know that I've endeavored to keep things interesting (or, at the very least, to feed my pretentions of scholarly and literary grandiosity) by littering these posts with occasional and sometimes gratuitous allusions to everyone from Homer to Haruki Murakami to Tim O'Brien to Virgil to Arthur Herzog (no, really!) to Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin. Many of these references are arguably a bit on the oblique side (all the better to cultivate my pointy-headed mystique, of course) -- so why I am I now leading off with something as obvious and hackneyed as the quote from Twain?

I guess because it seemed appropriate, that's all. Seriously, I wasn't going to post anything for another couple of days, but I found myself compelled to pass along the following:

1) I am not mortally injured, and
2) I still plan on resuming this whole running thing.

A few days ago, I was surprised to receive a phone call from a reporter at the New York Post asking me to verify whether or not I was, in fact, abandoning my plan to run all the streets of Brooklyn. I of course replied in the negative, and went on to explain that I'm merely taking some time off to rest up and heal a bit. And while I hadn't really thought about it prior to talking with this guy, after our conversation I realized that there were indeed a few hints here and there that might lead people to this (quite erroneous) conclusion.

Some of the confusion, of course, probably has its origins in my predilection for self-deprecatory rhetoric, and my apparent fondness for endlessly writing about the various aches and pains I've encountered and my general physical decrepitude. (When reading back through the archived posts, in fact, I was struck by the frequency with which I engaged in this sort of grousing. Yikes!)

But some of the rest might be traced to brief mentions in two relatively small local media outlets. First, a couple of weeks ago the Brooklyn Paper (a free weekly distributed to "bulk drop" locations throughout the borough's more upscale neighborhoods) ran this short piece which, though I didn't seem to notice at the time, does offer a somewhat distorted version of things. It calls me an "Iowa native," for instance, even though the "About Me" box at the very top of this blog clearly states that I'd moved to Brooklyn after "thirty years in New Jersey and another ten in Iowa." Moreover, the piece seems to imply that I might not even run the second half because I didn't think things all the way through, or simply because I'm "too lazy."

This last quote was actually a (typically self-deprecating) comment responding to the question of why I didn't stretch more, though the writing isn't particularly clear and it's kind of hard to tell what it refers to. Nonetheless, between the Forest Gump comparisons, aforementioned "Iowa native" references, and out-of-context quotations, it's understandable how a reader might possibly come away from the article with the impression that I'm some kind of midwestern rube standing at the edge of Brooklyn, rubbing his eyes in disbelief at the sheer vastness of the Big City and wondering just what he's gotten himself into. I'm not quite sure whether the general tone of the story and its casual treatment of the facts are due to specific editorial policy or simply the result of a young reporter's inexperience, but regardless, it does make me seem a little ambivalent about continuing. (To be fair, however, I should note that over the course of a few emails and a short phone conversation my impression of the writer in question, Christine Rizk, was a positive one, and the photographer they sent out couldn't have been nicer.)

The second mention consisted of only two sentences in last Wednesday's end-of-the-day wrap-up in Gothamist (the widely-read blog covering local news, events, and popular culture), quoting me on some of the aches and pains I'd written about and implying that injury might prevent me from running the second half. And while there's obviously no malicious intent lurking behind this (frankly, I'm quite sure the folks over there don't spend all that much time thinking about me or my sore legs in the first place), and though I appreciate the concern (really, I do), the quote about occasional numbness in my legs was part a larger explanation of why I needed to take some time off before moving on to the second half, not instead of moving on to the second half.

Whatever. The reality is probably that the underlying meaning of almost anything I try to say here is hopelessly obscured as I attempt to negotiate the text of each post between the Scylla of my ineluctable loggorhea and the Charybdis of my complete inability to self-edit (see? I'm doing it again! It's like a disease!). In other words, I have only myself to blame if readers of my blog walk away confused. But self-incriminating finger-pointing aside, let me wrap things up by saying, as straightfowardly as possible:

True enough, the first half took its toll both mentally and physically. But I'm going to take a few more weeks off, and if everything heals up properly I'll pick up the running right where I left off -- hopefully some time in early March.

Now why couldn't I have just said that in the first place?

As usual, here are a few more pictures:

Somewhere in Midwood

Marcy Avenue, Williamsburg

Along Jamaica Avenue in Cypress Hills

A Painful Confession

2007-01-30T17:56:00.000-05:00

I know, it's been a while. Tempus fugit, indeed. Anyway, some of you might be wondering where I've been the last week or two, and when I plan on resuming this whole thing (or indeed if I'm even planning on continuing at all). Have I lost interest? Could it be that I'm just waiting out the cold weather now that winter has actually arrived? Did I get all lazy? What's the holdup with starting in on the second half? Let me quickly begin by affirming that yes, I still have every intention of continuing, though it might not be for a while. But it's not simply a matter of sloth or the desire to wait for warmer weather, however, that's keeping me off the streets at the moment. So, by way of explanation, I offer the following overly-complicated and unnecessarily self-indulgent tripartite (or perhaps quadripartite) confession, replete with needlessly pretentious Latin introductions to each part:

I. Quod me nutrit me destruit. Running is supposed to be good for you, right? Or at least that's what I've always told myself. But everything needs to be done in moderation, I suppose, and I've never been one to be particularly moderate about anything. So I'll go right out and say it – I've been in a substantial amount of pain for quite a while now, and I'm running out of ways to deal with it. With the exception, of course, of taking an extended break and hoping that my body will, indeed, heal itself if I actually give it enough time to do so. What started as occasional soreness in my heels last summer has by now become more or less constant pain throughout most of my legs – not really any acute discomfort anywhere, but rather a chronic and pervasive tiredness and achiness that never goes away. Seriously, except for those few hours a week when I'm actually running (oh, those endorphins!) even the basic process of walking is proving painful. More disturbingly, I've been experiencing a weird numbness from time to time (especially from the knees down), like when your legs fall asleep or something. History of compulsive behavior notwithstanding, even I know that's probably not good.

The most vexing aspect of all this, however, is that I haven't been running all that much by most objective standards. I've averaged maybe 35 miles a week over the first half, which many runners would consider a pretty moderate total (non-runners will have to take my word on this one). So if it's not the mileage, why am I hurting? Is it that my typical run is close to nine miles long? That I usually run at a pretty constant pace of around 7.5 minutes per mile? That I do the absolute minimum amount of stretching after a run (and, if the subway's right there when I get to the platform, sometimes none at all)? The answers, I'll sheepishly admit, are indeed yes, yes, and yes. Most runners (the smart ones, at least) mix up their weekly runs so there's a nice complement of short and long, easy and hard, slow and fast. And any good runner knows how important stretching is. Again, my rational self knows all these things, but the compulsive self is fixated on the accumulation of unique miles, all else be damned.

II. Cuiusvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare. Sure enough, almost everyone I know (or, at least, everyone I've confided to about the pain and numbness) has urged me to take a break and rest up for a while. Again, the rational side of my brain realizes this is because they care about me and don't want to see me injure myself more severely (or more permanently), but the compulsive side brushes their admonishments aside (or worse, interprets them as a challenge to my resolve) and vows to press forward. Now, however, I've got to agree with them (and with Cicero, apparently) and admit that continuing to run at this time would not only be potentially physically destructive but monumentally stupid. And so it's not without at least a modicum of anguish and wounded pride that I hereby pledge:

Although I haven't run in twelve days, I'm going to take an additional four weeks off with the hope that my body will undo all the abuse I've heaped on it over the last seven months and heal itself well enough that I can continue with this project and finish up running all of Brooklyn by this fall.

So there you have it. Maybe now that it's out there for everyone to see (or at least my dozen or so regular readers), I'll have to follow through or risk even more wagging fingers and well-intentioned cautionary advice.

III. "Haec olim meminisse iuvabit," said Aeneas to his shipwrecked crew after the storm. And, with a similar admixture of irony and optimism, so say I. Maybe, after I finish this whole thing, hindsight will render the next several weeks not as the extended period of discouragement and frustration that they seem now, but merely a brief interlude in which I gather up the strength and energy to see things through. That's what I'm hoping for, in any event.

Looking on the bright side, a month or a month and a half off from running will allow me to spend some quality time on the dissertation, an activity that would definitely benefit from a little more attention. In fact, I'll probably take five or six days and drive back to Iowa City, to meet with my advisor and see some old friends. As for staying in shape, the Greenpoint Y is a short walk from home, and I'm thinking that there are most likely plenty of ways to start one's day that are worse than spending thirty or forty minutes in the pool.

Finally, I'll continue to post here whenever I have anything worth sharing (and probably even when I don't), and there are still a few dozen photos in the Runs Brooklyn archives which I could dig up and post as well. So do be sure to stop by from time to time and see what's up. With any luck, I hope to be back on the road around March 1st or so.

IV. Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum viditur. Then again, you probably knew that, right? And bonus points for identifying the individual whose portrait appears above. In any event, here are a few more photos that until now have managed to avoid being posted:

Somewhere in Sunset Park

Lexington Avenue in Bed-Stuy

Sunday morning in Williamsburg

Neighborhood Update & Summary

2007-01-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

So it's been a few days since I hit the halfway mark last Friday, and I figured I ought to at least offer a brief update on what's been going on in the Runs Brooklyn world since then. And the short answer is... nothing much. I've actually been enjoying the break from running (which has coincided with some of the colder and windier weather we've experienced out here this winter, not that I'm complaining), and have been able to devote a substantial amout of quality time to my non-running obligations (the dissertation, especially). I still intend on posting some sort of first-half wrap-up or summary or whatever, including statistics about miles and hours and everything. But that's going to require me to finish rebuilding the spreadsheet I accidentally deleted last week -- something that's taking longer than expected. This, of course, is mostly because it's really boring and I've been putting it off.

Instead, today I offer a neighborhood-by-neighborhood overview of where I've been spending my time (and where I'll need to spend more time during the second half). After looking over the "big map" and seeing where all the orange lines are, I assigned each Brooklyn neighborhood to one of four categories: Completed (100% of the streets run); Getting Close (more than about 2/3 of the streets run); Making Progress (between one-third and two-thirds run); and Needs Work (less than 1/3 complete). Kind of like a mid-semester grade report, I suppose.

Before I get to the list, however, let me preemptively offer a few clarifications:

First, no actual statistics were harmed in the creation of this list. I merely eyeballed the map and made my best guesses as to what percentage of each neighborhood I've trod. In other words, this is hardly a scientific affair.

Second, I'm quite aware that neighborhood boundaries are not set in stone, and can vary depending on who you ask or what source you consult. So to expedite things, I relied entirely on the maps in John Manbeck & Kenneth Jackson's The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn, 2nd Edition (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004) as my guide here. To that end, I've followed their lead and done things like include DUMBO and Vinegar Hill in with Downtown, for instance, and group East Williamsburg, Northside, and Southside together simply as Williamsburg. Any complaints, take it up with them.

And third, my "strategy" (or whatever you want to call it) for the first half centered largely around running the southernmost neighborhoods first, since they're the farthest away from my home base in Greenpoint (though as I approached the overall 50% mark I did do several runs much closer to home). So if you live in Brooklyn Heights or Bushwick or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, don't read anything into the lack of time spent in your corner of the borough. It's nothing personal, I promise. And besides, look on the bright side -- you'll see plenty of me this spring and summer.

Okay, onto the list itself, which will be followed by a (very brief) analysis (click here for a handy map of Brooklyn neighborhoods):

Completed (100%)

Bath Beach
Bay Ridge
Bensonhurst
Bergen Beach
Brighton Beach
Coney Island
Dyker Heights
Flatlands
Fort Hamilton
Gerritsen Beach
Gravesend
Manhattan Beach
Marine Park
Mill Basin
Sea Gate
Sheepshead Bay

Getting Close (>67%)

Canarsie
Greenpoint
Midwood

Making Progress (33-67%)

Bedford-Stuyvesant
Borough Park
East Flatbush
East New York
Fort Greene
Prospect Heights
Sunset Park
Williamsburg
Windsor Terrace

Needs Work (<33%)

Boerum Hill
Brooklyn Heights
Brownsville
Bushwick
Carroll Gardens
Clinton Hill
Cobble Hill
Crown Heights
Cypress Hills
Downtown Brooklyn
Flatbush
Gowanus
Kensington & Parkville
Park Slope
Prospect-Lefferts Gardens
Prospect Park South

Analysis: Actually, there's not much to analyze, now that I think about it. But I will offer three quick observations:

First, I hadn't really thought about this, but it appears that I've already run most of the pleasant-sounding neighborhoods with the word "beach" or "bay" in the name, but have yet to spend much time in most of the places whose names include "hill" or "heights." I have to admit, that's a little depressing (from a running point of view, at least).

Second (and on a more encouraging note), a good number of neighborhoods on the "Needs Work" list -- places like Cobble Hill, Prospect Park South, and Kensington & Parkville -- are small both geographically and in terms of population. Conversely, many of the borough's more expansive neighborhoods (again, measured in both people and square miles) like Bed-Stuy, Sheepshead Bay, East New York, Canarsie, Gravesend, and Borough Park are areas where I've made quite a bit of progress or finished up entirely.

Third, although there are a number of neighborhoods I clearly need to spend more time in, I have run at least once through all of the places listed with the glaring exception of Brooklyn Heights. Admittedly, I haven't yet run in Vinegar Hill or DUMBO either, but since we're lumping those in with downtown...

Anyway, there you have it. I have no idea what any of it means -- I just really wanted to post something while I was putting together the big "Runs Brooklyn First-Half Extravaganza," which should be forthcoming one of these days.

Finally, I've also recently added a few dozen photos (covering all of the last seven months' worth of running) to my flickr page. Here's a sampling:

Hair salon in Bed-Stuy

Houses in Brownsville

Sunset Park church

Church on Liberty Avenue in East New York

Barbershop in East Flatbush

I'll Worry About the Other Half Later

2007-01-19T10:07:00.000-05:00

Friday 1/19, Run #112: Greenpoint

Distance: 6.63 miles
Time: 0:50
Pace: 7:33
Temp: 34
Wind Chill: 26
Weather: sunny & windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 5.88
Total Unique Miles: 872.02
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 50.05

For the complete route, click here

Notes: This morning I awoke just in time to watch the first snowfall of the season. And while it didn't amount to much (a barely measurable dusting which was just enough to make the streets and sidewalks a bit slippery) and the sun came out soon after, it was kind of reassuring to see the weather actually match up to the calendar, thus eliminating the cognitive dissonance I've been experiencing so far during much of this winter. As for the run itself, I kept things simple by choosing a route that kept me right here in Greenpoint, taking me through much of the northernmost third of the neighborhood (and which didn't require any time on the subway).

More to the point, though, today's run (finally!) brought me to the halfway point in all of this. I know, it's hard to believe, and I think the first order of business will be to take a little time off to rest up and bask in the pale glow of my semi-accomplishment. Sometime over the next few days, though, I'll post a more thorough assessment of the first 50 percent, including my thoughts on some of the high and low points, a statistical wrap-up of these 872 unique miles, and probably a few photos that I haven't yet posted. After that, I'll need to start thinking about how to approach the second half. For now, however, I'm going to take a hot shower, have some oatmeal, and maybe take a nap.

Pictures from this morning:

Manhattan Avenue

Green Street

India Street

Newtown Creek, from the foot of Manhattan Avenue

India Street

Franklin Street

And Remember, Always Back Up Your Files

2007-01-18T12:34:00.000-05:00

Thursday 1/18, Run #111: Bed-Stuy, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights

Distance: 9.25 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:34
Temp: 27
Wind Chill: 21
Weather: partly cloudy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 9.02
Total Unique Miles: 866.14
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 49.71

For the complete route, click here

Notes: It's official -- with the completion of today's run I only need 5.04 unique miles to make it to the halfway point. I hope to be able to dash it off tomorrow (or, if the weather is uncooperative, Satuday), and then I'm going to feel pretty good about things. At least for a little while. Eventually, I suppose, I'll have to hit the road again for Part Two, but I'm really looking forward to a little break before that. As for the run itself, it was fine in terms of seeing interesting things and not getting run over, but it was certainly the coldest morning I've been out there so far. I was in the area where Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, and Prospect Heights come together, a region with a lot of people out and about, some attractive residential streets, and plenty of houses I'd never be able to afford. As you might suspect, I chose this destination today because of its proximity to the G train, meaning I didn't spend more than 10 or 15 minutes getting either to or from the run. And that was very nice, indeed.

On a less positive note, last night I inadvertently deleted the spreadsheet I'd been using to keep track of everything regarding my Brooklyn runs -- distances and times, of course, but also the weather, the URL of each individual route map, and weekly, monthly, and running totals of the various statistics. I guess that's why they always tell you to back up everything. It's true, of course, that most of this information is preserved right here on the blog and that I can probably recreate the thing nearly in its entirety by going through each of the 110 posts and copying the information into a new spreadsheet. But that's a lot of work. I think I need to hire an intern.

Finally, a quick note on my photos: I've finally organized the pictures from all my runs over at Flickr into eight sets that group the photos thematically. There's a substantial set, for instance, devoted to storefronts, as well as others featuring pictures related to residential buildings, transportation, and religion. Believe me, it's a lot easier to look at these groupings (each has between roughly 50 and 125 images) than it is to wade through all 600+ photos. You can take a look by either heading over to my Flickr page and then clicking on whichever set you want to see, or you can simply click on one of the links I've included here on the blog. They're over to the right, listed under the heading "Runs Brooklyn Photo Archive," and just beneath the "About this Blog" links. (For whatever reason it takes a few seconds for the pages to come up, so please be patient.)

Speaking of photos, here's today's installment:

Bergen Street

Dean Street

Prospect Place

Paul Robeson Theater on Greene Avenue

Flatbush Avenue

Prospect Place

Finally, Winter Shows Up

2007-01-16T11:58:00.000-05:00

Tuesday 1/16, Run #110: Bedford-Stuyvesant & Crown Heights

Distance: 9.06 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:44
Temp: 40
Wind Chill: 32
Weather: cloudy & windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.61
Total Unique Miles: 857.12
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 49.19

For the complete route, click here

Notes: After holding off long enough that more than a few local trees and flowers were starting to bud already, winter is making a comeback today via dropping temperatures and some gusty northwesternly breezes. (And it's supposed to get even colder over the next fewe days.) But even though I was careless enough to plot a route that left me running the last three miles or so almost directly into the wind, I still finished up in good spirits -- due in good part, no doubt, to the knowledge that I've only got two modest runs left before reaching the halfway point. I don't mean to make such a big deal about this -- I do realize, of course, that after I take a short break I've essentially got to do everything I've done up to this point all over again -- but for whatever reason it's providing an somewhat unexpected and not entirely unwelcome psychological boost which I'm only too happy to embrace.

Looking last night at all the orange lines I've drawn the "big map" thus far, I couldn't help but notice that there was a sizeable gap in the middle of the borough where I hadn't run at all yet. It's hard to believe, but true -- there it was, a square roughly a mile and a half on a side, centered on the eastern half of Crown Heights and bounded by Stuyvesant Heights to the north, East Flatbush to the south, and Brownsville to the east. In an attempt to rectify this unintentional oversight, of course, I decided I needed to head down that way today. Still, I didn't want to spend all morning on the train (or worse, freezing on a platform somewhere), so I devised a relatively simple course in which I'd start the run just five subway stops from home, head south for a couple of miles, spend another few in the southeastern corner of Crown Heights, and then continue back north to a point only four stops to home. And, I'm happy to report, it worked out just fine.

Crown Heights is an interesting area, brimming with recent immigrants from the Caribbean and parts of Africa and Asia but also home to the world headquarters of Lubavitch Hasidim. Unfortunately, the name of the neighborhood is linked in many minds with the rioting and violence that erupted in August, 1991, exposing not only local ethnic tensions but deeper currents of racial antagonism in the city. It's still something of a contentious issue (when doing a little background Googling it quickly became evident that accounts of the riots vary significantly, often depending on whether they are being related by African Americans or Hasidim, cops or reporters, locals or outsiders), but this 2001 article from the Times provides something of a starting point, as well as some details about the changes that had taken place (and, alas, those that had not) during the ensuing decade.

A few pictures:

Corner of Crown Street and Utica Avenue

Houses along the north side of Crown Street

Brookly Public Library branch on De Kalb Avenue

Restaurant on Kingston Avenue

Mitzvah tank parked just west of Kingston Avenue

Mt. Pisgah Church on Tompkins Avenue

Another Williamsburg Sunday

2007-01-14T13:16:00.000-05:00

Sunday 1/14, Run #109: Greenpoint & Williamsburg

Distance: 9.82 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:38
Temp: 44
Wind Chill: 39
Weather: overcast & foggy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.68
Total Unique Miles: 848.52
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 48.70

For the complete route, click here

Notes: As with the previous two Sundays, I stayed close to home today and once again followed a route that allowed me to start and finish within a few blocks of the Runs Brooklyn world headquarters here in Greenpoint. So despite the lousy weather out there (and the forecast for more rain to come), this morning's run was a good one from the moment I started for that reason alone. But I also passed a significant milestone, though not one that shows up in any of the numbers I post here on the blog: I hit the 1000 total mile mark since I started this whole thing last June. I know, it's more symbolic than anything else since it's the unique miles that count toward running the whole borough, but still -- a thousand. That's a lot of sidewalk, a lot of dodging drifting pedestrians, a lot of darting through traffic across busy city streets, and a lot of strange looks from my fellow Brooklynites. And while it looks like I'm now within just three more runs from hitting the halfway mark (only 22.66 unique miles to go!), there's something immensely satisfying about having run 1000 miles over the last 29 weeks. Interestingly enough, that's almost the exact distance from my previous home in Iowa City, Iowa, to my apartment in Brooklyn -- in fact, if you were to drive from my old address to my current one here you'd cover precisely 1001.42 miles (at least according to Mapquest). Of course, that'd only take sixteen hours or so, provided you didn't hit any traffic south of Chicago.

Like the previous two local Sunday runs, my excursion today took me through a pretty diverse cross-section of the borough, from working-class residential streets to the edge of the East River to some heavily industrial areas to the (increasingly gentrified) hipster chic of Northside Williamsburg. I ran under both the BQE and the Williamsburg Bridge, alongside decaying nineteenth-century warehouses, beside the enormous old Domino sugar factory, and past new buildings with million-dollar condos. And I made my way through neighborhoods that are mostly Polish, predominantly Hispanic, or in which Orthodox Jews comprise the majority. All this in under ten miles, too. A pretty great run on a pretty lousy morning, weatherwise at least.

So there. I made it through a whole post without complaining about anything besides the weather! Anyway, I'm taking tomorrow off to rest up for the final push toward 50 percent, and will hopefully be back on the road Tuesday and then either Wednesday or Thursday, with Friday tentatively penciled in for hitting the big milestone. The big milestone that really counts, that is.

Given the low light and gloomy conditions, here's the best I could manage with the camera:

Driggs Avenue

Also on Driggs

Broadway

Metropolitan Avenue

Looking southwest from the end of S. 4th

Broadway

Getting Closer...

2007-01-12T12:07:00.000-05:00

Friday 1/12, Run #108: Fort Greene & Clinton Hill

Distance: 8.50 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:39
Temp: 41
Wind Chill: 33
Weather: cloudy & windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.36Total Unique Miles: 839.83
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 48.20

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Yesterday I pondered the reasons why I've recently been ignoring my elaborate running plans and neglecting the careful strategizing I've done, but today I can say with some authority that I have an answer. I think it's pretty obvious, too -- I just want to get to the halfway point and take a break. While I still enjoy the actual running itself, I am kind of burned out, and have grown especially weary (as I may have mentioned already once or twice) all the non-running aspects like the planning and the subway rides and everything. And so (since I returned from California, at least), I've found myself devising routes that are simple, relatively close to home, and very efficient in terms of the unique miles. I'll probably regret this during the second half when I'll eventually have to do the runs (and planning and subway-riding) I'm now avoiding , but I don't think I care too much right about now. I just want to be done with the first half.

To that end, I ran in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene today. It was indeed a route that took maybe five minutes to plan and map out, had only a little over a tenth of a mile that wasn't unique, and both started and ended right at subway stops on the G, so travel time wasn't more than ten or fifteen minutes each way. Perfect! Moreover, these are two neighborhoods I've barely run in thus far, and it was great seeing some stretches of town that were new to me. I'll write all about these places, too -- next time I visit them. For the rest of today (and tomorrow) I hope to get some of my other writing done, but I'll be out on the road again on Sunday (weather permitting, of course).

As always, I tried to take a few pictures:

Adelphi Street

Building on the St. Joseph's campus (Clinton Ave)

Carlton Ave

Also on Carlton Ave

And one more from Carlton Ave

Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

2007-01-11T12:15:00.000-05:00

Thursday 1/11, Run #107: Midwood

Distance: 8.66 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:30
Temp: 29
Wind Chill: 24
Weather: sunny & wintery!

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 6.82
Total Unique Miles: 831.47
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 47.72

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Once again, I've completely ignored my own self-imposed dictates for planning my routes. I probably should be dutifully plugging away out in Cypress Hills or somewhere, but -- for no particular reason -- I decided to fill in a little section of Midwood that I'd been ignoring for a while. I don't know why I feel kind of guilty when I do stuff like this instead of sticking to whatever master plan I'm supposed to be following, but there it is. What I need to do is to keep reminding myself that it's my little endeavor here, and there aren't any real rules concerning the "right" or "wrong" way of running the whole borough that I need to follow. As long as I'm honest about where I've run and careful with the recordkeeping, these other things shouldn't matter, right? But they do anyway. Truth be told, I think I'm veering dangerously close to physical and mental burnout, though I'm going to hang in there until I reach the halfway point (about a week and a half from now, at this rate). Then I'll sit down and think things through and figure out how long of a break I'll need and what plans I need to make (as if I'd follow them!) for the second half.

The run itself was limited to a fairly compact residential swath of Midwood (an aptly-named neighborhood in the central part of the borough) just south of the Long Island Railroad freight train tracks and southwest of Brooklyn College. It's a pleasant area to run in (though it'd be much more so in the warmer weather, when the abundant shade trees actually have leaves on them), with the streetscape dominated by single-family detached houses on the numbered streets and substantial apartment buildings along some of the avenues, and much of it bearing the imprint of the mostly Orthodox Jewish population, especially along the east-west avenues (which boast a good number of Hebrew schools and synagogues) and some of the commerical areas.

Perhaps the biggest news is that, after a month or two of waiting, the weather actually felt kind of wintery out there today. The forecast calls for highs in the fifties by the weekend, though, so I'll try to enjoy it while I can. Despite being a bit worn out I'm going to run again tomorrow and keep pushing toward that fifty percent milestone. Only a few more runs...

Broken Angel update: According to the Times and several local blogs, the building will be saved -- by converting most of it to condos. An odd fate, perhaps, but probably not completely surprising, either. Read all about it at Brownstoner, Gowanus Lounge, and the Times.

Pictures from today's run:

Young Israel of Flatbush, a synagogue on Coney Island Avenue

The other Nathan's (Avenue H)

Washington Cemetery (as seen from E. 4th Street)

Visiting the Broken Angel of Clinton Hill

2007-01-09T14:23:00.000-05:00

Tuesday 1/9, Run #106: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill

Distance: 8.08 miles
Time: 1:00
Pace: 7:25
Temp: 38
Wind Chill: 29
Weather: partly cloudy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.64
Total Unique Miles: 824.65
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 47.33
For the complete route, click here

Notes: Usually my routes are dictated by the geographic logic of the "big map," but today marks the first day I planned a run in order to see a specific place. This morning, I headed back to Bed-Stuy (or, to be a bit more precise, the fringe of Clinton Hill on its western border) in order to visit the Broken Angel, an impressive piece of "outsider" architecture and an oddly compelling part of the local streetscape whose origins and impact have sometimes led it to be compared to the Watts Towers in Los Angeles. Starting with an old building they picked up cheap in 1971, owners Arthur and Cindy Wood have continuously built up and out and onto, adding several stories as well as all kinds of ornamental detail. A fire last October led to quite a bit of local attention (with the best coverage coming from several Brooklyn-based blogs) and numerous questions about its future. According to Brownstoner and Gowanus Lounge, the Woods have been unable to raise the funds or hire the contracters necessary to bring the structure up to code (apparently, the city didn't give them a lot of time), and the property is now for sale. Click here to see a terrific set of photos (both interior and exterior) from the Woods' son, Christopher.

Anyway, I figured it was worth a trip to see the place before it gets torn down and replaced by condos or whatever other fate may be in store for it. It is indeed a very impressive and very cool-looking building, and it's easy to see why so many locals are worried about its seemingly imminent demise. And while I have virtually zero knowledge about architecture, homebuilding, or city codes (and thus can't really comment on the Broken Angel's safety or structural integrity), I think it's still kind of amazing that the city let the place stand as long as it has. But as of today it's still there, and however small the chance, maybe something will get worked out to let it stay.

Otherwise, today's run also had a lot going for it besides getting to see a storied piece of local color -- plenty of unique miles, lots of other stuff see (including a good number of small churches and groceries), and great weather (except for the pretty stiff wind). I'm still not feeling 100%, however, so I'll probably take tomorrow off before trying to run again on Thursday. See you then.

Update, 1/11: Broken Angel to be Saved, in a Way (from Gowanus Lounge)

Broken Angel pictures:

Looking north on Downing Street

The front (4 is the address on Downing Street)

The view looking west on Quincy Street

Other pictures:

Classon Avenue

Church on Quincy Street

Downing Street

Stuyvesant Avenue at Quincy Street

Practically In My Own Backyard

2007-01-07T13:38:00.000-05:00

Sunday 1/7, Run #105: Greenpoint & Williamsburg

Distance: 9.86 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:36
Temp: 45
Wind Chill: 40
Weather: sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 9.06
Total Unique Miles: 817.01
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 46.89

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Sure enough, after writing just a few days ago about how I was going to assiduously begin working on filling in some streets out in the eastern parts of the borough, I decided to scrap those plans and stay close to home. The subway doesn't run as often on weekends, and of late I've just been getting kind of tired of spending so much time sitting on trains or waiting on platforms. By starting and finishing right here in Greenpoint I was able to sleep in a little longer, get in a good number of miles, and still get home well before I would otherwise. I'll probably regret it down the road, but it sure seemed like a good idea this morning.

Like my short neighborhood jaunt a week ago, I was able to see a pretty diverse swath of Brooklyn while never straying more than a mile and a quarter from home. Near the East River, of course, there were the requisite old factories and industrial fixtures and warehouses (both functional and residential), but my route also took me into some of the more residential parts of Williamsburg, down alongside the Williamsburg Bridge (one of the three that connect Brooklyn to Manhattan) and up Meeker Avenue, which runs pretty much under the elevated Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Many of the miles, however, were spent on the north side of Williamsburg, a neighborhood I'm pretty ambivalent about. Allegedly, it's where a sizeable contingent of young artsy types and hipsters live and socialize, but it also can seem at times like a bizarre kind of urban theme park, where a surprising number of (oddly homogeneous) twenty-somethings in indie-rock haircuts and thrift-store duds drink expensive coffee or ride their fixies up Bedford Avenue. The party may be over soon, though, since it's already an expensive area and the ongoing rapid gentrification will continue to alter the neighborhood pretty drastically in the near future.

Regardless, the weather was a bit more seasonable than yesterday, there was plenty to see, the run itself felt pretty good, and I didn't spend all day on the subway. Not bad at all.

Pictures:

Bedford Avenue

N. 8th Street

Just off Marcy Avenue

Looking west from the foot of S. 5th Street

Jackson Street

Another Day Off (and Another Record High)

2007-01-06T10:20:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, it seems that since I've returned from California I've hardly run at all. It's not for a lack of desire, of course -- the halfway mark is tantalizingly close, and I'd really like to get there soon -- but the truth is that I've been feeling a little run-down of late and don't want to overdo things. (Doesn't much sound like me, does it?). Seriously, though, I haven't had so much as a cold in almost two years, and I certainly don't want to get sick now. Thus another day of taking it easy and working on the dissertation (an activity that I devoted some twelve hours to yesterday, believe it or not). I am, however, planning on hitting the road tomorrow, though I'll probably "cheat" a little and stay close to home instead of taking the subway to distant points. I'm getting really tired of spending so much time on the train, if you want to know the truth.

Besides -- and this is a very weird thing to write on January 6th -- it's too warm out there. I'm not kidding. As of 11:00 this morning it was 69 degrees, with a dewpoint of 61 (and a forecast high of 72). If I was to run right now I'd be drenched in sweat within 20 minutes, and frankly, that prospect isn't all that appealing at the present time. Tomorrow's high is forecast to be a more moderate (though still 12-degrees above normal) 51, meaning it'll be in the 40s in the morning -- pretty close to perfect for running.

Here's a bonus picture from the vaults:

Habemus papam! (58th Street in Borough Park)

Looking to the East

2007-01-04T12:42:00.000-05:00

Thursday 1/4, Run #104: Canarsie, Flatlands, East Flatbush

Distance: 9.30 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:32
Temp: 44
Wind Chill: 38
Weather: mostly sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.05
Total Unique Miles: 807.95
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 46.37

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Nothing against the nice people of Sunset Park or Midwood or Borough Park, but I've been concentrating on the eastern and east-central parts of the borough lately. I don't know if it counts as an actual strategy, but instead of bouncing around from neighborhood to neighborhood (based largely on my own whims) I've decided to focus my energies on a smaller region. This has the advantage of being somewhat more motivational, in that I'm able to see more immediate results on the "big map" since the streets I'm filling in are confined to a relatively small space and thus seem more impressive than they might otherwise be. Whatever the specifics, I'm going to try and spend a good amount of time in East New York, Cypress Hills, East Flatbush, and maybe Brownsville over the next weeks. I feel like I've been making some progress out that way, and I want to maintain the momentum. An object in motion, and all that.

But oh, those non-unique miles are vexing me. About a quarter of my route today was repeats, mostly because the area I covered was a long way from the nearest subways (the last stop on the L is over a mile away to the east; the Brooklyn College stop on the 2 train is about a mile to the west) and the only way in and out was over a number of streets I'd already ran. Still, I probably shouldn't complain too much, since it was sunny and fifty-something degrees out by the time I got back home. Not bad for January, but if things keep up like this I'm really dreading June and July...

As for the run, it had a bit of everything: various shops and laundromats and groceries and other businesses along Flatlands Avenue, a more industrial area around the railroad tracks near Foster and Glenwood Avenues, plenty of residential streets (with tidy brick rowhouses), and a sizeable public housing project (the Glenwood Houses) in the middle of things. Just your average jaunt through Brooklyn. BTW, the word "skelly" in the second picture from the bottom refers to the local street game by that name (or skully or skelsie, depending on who you ask). I grew up in Jersey, so I'm certainly no expert -- everything I know about it probably came from reading Jonathan Lethem -- but here's the obligatory wikipedia link for the curious.

Today's pictures:

E. 56th Street

A relic from the Bicentennial on Albany Avenue

Restaurant, also on Albany Avenue

In a schoolyard off E. 54th Street

E. 56th Street

Starting the New Year in New Lots

2007-01-02T12:39:00.000-05:00

Tuesday 1/2, Run #103: East New York

Distance: 8.52 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:38
Temp: 44
Wind Chill: 36
Weather: sunny & windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 6.79
Total Unique Miles: 800.90
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 45.97

For the complete route, click here

Notes: For my first run of the new year I made my way out to East New York once again, part of my ongoing, concerted effort to fill in some more streets both in that neighborhood and Cypress Hills, just to the north. The area in which I ran today is usually called New Lots, a name whose origin lies with the seventeenth-century Dutch farmers who settled out there in order to get away from the, um, old lots to the west. (Actually, according to Kenneth Jackson and John Manbeck's "The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn," the center of Flatbush back then was indeed referred to as Old Lots.) Anyway, the rural nature of New Lots became threatened when John Pitkin built a factory just to the north in the 1830s and, in a fit of absolutely brilliant place-namery, christened his new neighborhood East New York because it was, well, east of New York. New Lots soldiered on, however, incorporating as its own municipality in 1852, and hanging in there until finally swallowed whole by the rapidly expanding city of Brooklyn in 1886. Twelve years later, of course, New Lotsters became New Yorkers, when the five boroughs were finally consolidated. Some remnants of the past still exist, like the Old Dutch Reformed Church (which I saw on a run back in August) and the adjacent cemetery.

So there you have it. The paragraph you've just read is courtesy of a vague New Year's resolution, in which I've decided to try and provide some actual content here alongside the seemingly daily updates on the frailties of my musculoskeletal system. A little history here, perhaps a little personal reflection there, and maybe the occasional rumination on larger themes and issues to round things out. Or something like that. Regardless, I'm trying, so be sure to check back from time to time to see how this pans out. (If I were a betting man, though, my money would be on a reversion to lengthy essays devoted to my aching heels and tight hamstrings.)

As for the run itself -- it was perfectly fine. We're still experiencing above-average temperatures (what is this now, eighteen days in a row?), though a strong northwest wind did its best to make things feel a little more like winter (or at least like early spring). New Lots is largely residential, and while there is an interesting variety of houses -- some older blocks of mostly-intact rowhouses, quite a few apartment buildings, several neglected buildings in pretty bad shape, and a number of recent attempts to build functional, affordable housing -- there weren't too many truly compelling photographic subjects. Sure, houses make nice photos sometimes, but I feel awful self-conscious taking pictures of someone's house when they're watching me from the window. Still, here are a few shots I managed to take:

Just off Riverdale Avenue

Corner of Linden Boulevard and Linwood Street

Snediker Avenue

Just north of Livonia Avenue

Berriman Street

A Quick Run to End the Year

2006-12-31T20:52:00.000-05:00

Sunday 12/31, Run #102: Greenpoint and Williamsburg

Distance: 4.73 miles
Time: 0:35
Pace: 7:24
Temp: 42
Wind Chill: 38
Weather: mostly sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 3.85
Total Unique Miles: 794.11
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 45.58

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Barely twelve hours after arriving home from the left coast, this morning I hit the road for one last time in 2006. Actually, I wasn't going to run at all, but with tomorrow's forecast calling for rain I figured it wouldn't hurt to get out there and put in a few quick miles, especially since I hadn't run in a week and a half. Being a bit out of practice (and most likely a pound or two heavier), I stayed close to home and took it easy, turning in my second-shortest run of the year on a very pleasant winter day. I don't yet know if the time off has healed any of the damage I've inflicted on myself thus far, but it really did feel awful good just to be out running again.

The route I followed today took me along part of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfronts, a semi-industrial area not entirely unlike the parts of Sunset Park I ran earlier in the month. Many of the streets dead-ended at the East River and provided terrific views of Manhattan, though judging by the air conditioners in the windows and the mailboxes by the entrances a lot more of the old buildings up this way seemed to have been converted to residences. The streets were mostly empty, however, with only the occasional dog-walker or bicylist as evidence that people, indeed, live around there. I don't imagine things will stay this way too long, though, since high-rise condo development is spreading rapidy up the waterfront.

Anyway, I toyed with the idea of putting together a big end-of-the-year Runs Brooklyn 2006 wrap-up extravaganza, but since I'm within ten runs or so of hitting the halfway mark I figured I'd wait until then, since that would be a much better excuse for such self-congratulatory self-indulgence. Keep an eye out for such a post around the third week of January, when I hope to hit that milestone.

Until then, I'm delighted (and quite flattered) that Gowanus Lounge included Runs Brooklyn on its list of the top new Brooklyn blogs of 2006, as part of its extensive "Best and Worst of 2006" year-end post. Alas, GL is too humble to include itself on such a list, although it certainly belongs there -- it's my favorite of the multitudinous local blogs and invariably the first one I check each day.

Happy New Year, everyone. Some pictures from this morning:

Noble Street

The view from the end of Java Street

Bedford Avenue

6th Street

Walking (a Little Bit of) Berkeley

2006-12-26T11:35:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, in a trans-continental covergence of pedestrian-minded bloggers, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Jen English for a short walk in Berkeley, California. Jen has walked a good percentage of the streets out there over the last year or so, and records her thoughts at her excellent blog, Walking Berkeley. More than providing a mere travelogue or statistical summary of miles and streets, though, Jen uses the various things she sees along her walks as starting points for thoughtful essays on everything from banana trees to satellite dishes to farmers markets, expanding on the original topic and often including pertinent links and personal musings. For the two or three readers of my blog that haven't already checked out Jen's, maybe this would be a good time to head on over. Go on -- I'll wait.

Good. Anyway, our walk covered about three and a half miles over roughly an hour and a half, the leisurely pace slowed even further by my need to take pictures of everything and ask plenty of questions about the city and the streetscape (although I've been out to California a number of times in the past, this was indeed my first-ever visit to Berkeley). Jen plotted a simple route that took us from the UC Berkeley campus down Telegraph Avenue to the border with Oakland, then over to Shattuck Avenue and back to the starting point -- a big rectangle that offered us the chance to see a pretty representative slice of the city in a relatively short time, from the stores and restaurants clearly geared toward the college crowd to the residential neighborhoods at the southern reaches of the city to the downtown area. I wish that we'd had time to see (and talk) a lot more, but it was a beautiful day and the whole experience was still terrific.

It turns out that Jen and I are on the same page regarding many of the experiences we've had in the process of covering every street in our respective cities, though I admitted that I'm quite envious of her ability, as a walker, to more thoroughly take in the sights and sounds of her surroundings and have the ability to further investigate those things she finds interesting. I also wish I was able, the way she is, to dress inconspicuously and blend in more with the people around her on her walks. Naturally, when I'm out doing my Brooklyn thing I'm dressed in my running clothes, which typically (except in the coldest months) consist of nothing more than nylon shorts, a t-shirt, and running shoes. In other words, while I am certainly in the neighborhoods I run, I've never really felt of them -- I'm quite aware of my outsider status and my difference from the folks going about their morning business (especially in the warmer, stickier weather, when I'm sweating all over the place). Call it the urban runner's dilemma -- although I'll be seeing all of Brooklyn, will I actually be experiencing any of it? I'm not so convinced. Then again, walking all of Brooklyn would probably take years, and I am pretty impatient.

Overall, my taste of Berkeley was great fun. Thanks again, Jen, for the (alas, far too brief) walking tour. And if you or any of the walkers out there that I've met through this blog ever find yourselves in New York, get in touch and we can go out and see some of Brooklyn. I'd even be willing to slow down my pace a bit -- and wear real pants. In the meantime, I'll be back and running again by this weekend, so be sure to check back and see what's up.

Finally, here are some pictures from the walk. All of them (except the shot of the California Theater, which is on Kittredge Street) were taken either on or just adjacent to Shattuck Avenue.

One for the Road

2006-12-20T12:21:00.000-05:00

Wednesday 12/20, Run #101: East New York

Distance: 10.19 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:22
Temp: 36
Wind Chill: 34
Weather: sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.38
Total Unique Miles: 790.26
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 45.36

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Though I'll be taking a much-needed Christmas break starting tomorrow, I thought I'd squeeze in one more run first. And while it was certainly nice enough to color in some new streets on the "big map," today's outing was probably more therapeutic than anything, a good way to sweat out some of the stress and anxiety that invariably accompanies holiday time (and, more to the point, holiday travel).

Continuing with my implementation of "Phase 2" (which, I can assure you, is less sinister than it sounds), I headed back out to the far southeastern corner of the borough, and have now completed all of East New York south of Linden Boulevard and east of Euclid Avenue. These parts include some of the more "irregular" portions from a street-layout perspective, but most of the rest of the neighborhood streets conform to a very tidy grid. This ought to make it a lot easier to get in more unique miles per run on my subsequent visits -- no small consideration since I'll be out there during the coldest times of the year (unless, of course, our abnormally warm weather trends continue throughout the winter).

The area itself -- bounded by the major east-west thoroughfare Linden Boulevard to the north and the Starrett City complex to the south -- is a place I've mostly been through before, a mix of light industry, some large public housing projects (the Linden and Boulevard houses), and a commercial district along Pennsylvania Avenue. Not much to report, really, as it was a more or less uneventful run on a pleasant (if more seasonably chilly) morning.

Starting tomorrow I'm taking a full ten days off from running. I'm sure I'll continue to post from time to time (and maybe drag some old pictures out of the vault), but I'm hoping the rest will do me good and leave me in great shape for starting off the new year. Until then, best holiday wishes to everyone (except, maybe, Bill O'Reilly).

In an area dominated by nondescript warehouses, factories, and featureless brick public housing towers there weren't that many things demanding to be photographed. Here's a few pictures I took anyway:

A man, a plan, a haircut? (Hegeman Avenue)

Boulevard Homes, between Stanley Avenue and Linden Boulevard

Representing the 42nd District (Pennsylvania Avenue)

On the Waterfront

2006-12-17T17:26:00.000-05:00

Sunday 12/17, Run #100: Sunset Park

Distance: 11.32 miles
Time: 1:25
Pace: 7:31
Temp: 44
Wind Chill: 38
Weather: partly cloudy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.58
Total Unique Miles: 782.88
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 44.93

For the complete route, click here

Notes: One hundred is a pretty useful number, you've got to admit. In fact, when you look around, the number one hundred is almost everywhere: It represents a perfect score on an exam or homework assignment, for instance, but also the boiling point of water on the Celsius scale. It's the number of yards in the playing surface of an American football field, the very definition of an average IQ score, and the basis for our monetary system. It's the number of senators in Washington, the basis for countless end-of-the-year "best-of" lists, and central to the title of a certain novel by Gabriel García Márquez. Bicyclists revere the 100-mile ride, or "century" as a two-wheeled feat of endurance, while academics like the number so much they break much of human history into 100-year chunks and assign them names like "the Nineteenth Century."

I'm sure most readers have figured out where I'm going with this. Simply put, today marked the 100th run I've completed since embarking on this whole thing, and I suppose I was hoping that a sort of transitive property of cultural numeracy would somehow elevate my accomplishment by comparing it favorably with all those previous examples. In other words, if the number 100 is particularly significant, and I've done 100 runs, well, then my running must be pretty significant too. Or something like that.

Regardless of its larger ramifications (or the lack thereof), I went out and ran today anyway. Looking to do something a little different, I decided to go fill in some of the streets down by the Sunset Park waterfront, once one of the major shipping centers in the northeast. I've gotten close enough on past runs to know to avoid the area during the week, when trucks line the streets and forklifts dart in and out of the many warehouses. But since today was Sunday, and another unseasonably warm Sunday at that, I figured it was time to check things out down there.

The streetscape was interesting enough -- and a refreshing change from the mostly residential areas I've run of late -- but it was pretty weird having so much of the place to myself. I'd often go several blocks without seeing another person, which, as one might imagine, is a relatively uncommon occurrence in a borough with 2.8 million residents. But that was also an advantage, I suppose, since I got to poke around some of the streets without anyone giving me strange looks or telling me to get lost.

Several dead-end streets extend northwest from 1st Avenue down toward the water, and some of them look like they hadn't changed significantly in years. This was particularly the case on 42nd Street, which led down to some older warehouses situated around multiple train tracks which criss-crossed the paving stones comprising the uneven road surface. Also interesting was the stretch of 58th Street that headed down toward Pier 4, where the New York Water Taxi makes stops and which has public access all the way to the end, offering great views of both the Manhattan skyline ahead and the Sunset Park waterfront behind. I also got to run through the streets in and around the Brooklyn Army Terminal, the huge complex that served as the major point of departure for American troops and supplies during World War II (and which is now an industrial park run by the city). It's also where Elvis, in his Army days, caught the U.S.S. Randall and sailed for Germany back in 1958.

Overall it was a great (if somewhat atypical) outing, and a perfect way to spend run one hundred. Even if I did probably overdo it a bit with the 11+ miles.

A few pictures:

Just east of 2nd Avenue

53rd Street

52nd Street

As in neckties (44th Street)

Brooklyn Army Terminal

50th Street

The Best-Laid Plans...

2006-12-15T10:33:00.000-05:00

Okay, so Robert Burns I'm not. But my immediate running plans (which, as recently as yesterday included, um, "cramming as many miles in before I head out west for Christmas") have indeed gone awry, and I've decided to take another unscheduled off day today. The truth is that I've been hurting more than I've let on (either in these posts or, indeed, to myself), and my body has becoming increasingly resistant not only to the analgesic properties of ibuprofen and naproxen but to my own vain attempts at positive thinking. I was hoping just to suck it up and limp (quite literally, unfortunately) into my ten-day holiday respite by running as much as possible right up until my flight leaves next Thursday, but now I'm questioning the benefits of such an approach. I may try to squeeze in one or two more runs, but I'm starting to think that tacking on a few more off days prior to the vacation itself may pay the highest long-term dividends, allowing me to get some serious, well-needed rest and then hit the ground running (so to speak) in the new year.

Since I started this whole thing back on June 25 I've run over 910 total miles (with about 775 of those counting as "unique"), and if you average that out it seems I've been running the equivalent of 5.25 miles per day, every day, including off days. Of course, this isn't all that much to many of my fellow runners, and there are plenty of distance runners and ultramarathoners and others who log a lot more miles than that. But for this 40-year old, creaky, achy, and more-or-less nonathletic body that is apparently plenty, and my muscles and bones and joints have been increasingly vociferous in their demands for a little rest. This time, I might just listen to them.

Like I said, I'll probably get one or two more runs in before next Thursday. But even when I'm not running there are still a few topics I've been meaning to write about and a number of spare photos lying around that I can post. So while I might be taking a short break from the running side of Runs Brooklyn, the blogging side should continue without too many interruptions. As always, stay tuned.

Another recent picture from the vaults:

McKinley & Autumn Avenues, East New York

Just Your Typical Brooklyn Neighborhood

2006-12-14T14:04:00.001-05:00

Thursday 12/14, Run #99: Flatlands & East Flatbush

Distance: 9.84 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:37
Temp: 48
Wind Chill: 44
Weather: mostly sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.79
Total Unique Miles: 774.30
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 44.44

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Apparently, our little taste of winter has come and gone, and as I was heading down to start today's run the temperature was close to 50, with a forecast high around 60. Perhaps I was premature in swapping out the dewpoint for the wind chill at the top of these posts. I don't mean to complain too much, though, since running in this kind of weather is nearly ideal for me (I tend to like winter a bit more in theory than in practice, I guess), and I'd much rather not have to deal with the layers of clothes and the frostbitten fingers. It is weird, though, to be standing on a subway platform with just a t-shirt and shorts in the middle of December (and judging by the occasional odd look from other straphangers, I'd surmise that a good majority of them agree).

My route today took me down to Flatlands for the most part, though a few parts of the run took me across Avenue H into what's generally regarded as East Flatbush. I like running down here quite a bit -- there's some diversity in the population (though those from the Caribbean seem especially heavily represented), but mostly I like it because it somehow seems very Brooklyn-esque. This, of course, is a subjective quality that I'm not quite able to fully define (nor understand completely myself, for that matter); it's more of an impressionistic perception I get from the accumulated experience of the last half-year's worth of running. But what I mean is that, for the most part, it's home to neither the wealthiest nor poorest residents, there is a wide range of houses and buildings (plenty of single-family and two-family homes, as well as some larger apartment buildings), and while it's mostly residential there are still a good number of small businesses and schools and churches and even some light industry along the streets closest to the Long Island Railroad tracks that cut through the region. I suppose it just feels kind of average. Or maybe "representative" or "typical" are better words, if "average" seems a bit inadequate or even deprecatory. I don't know. Given all I've seen over the last few months and having been through so many different neighborhoods, this corner of the borough just feels like Brooklyn to me, that's all. If I was a more enterprising individual I could look up census data and find out how this area ranks in terms of ethic makeup and educational background and home valuation and income and those kinds of things, to see just how typical it really is. I am not a particularly enterprising person, however, so you'll just have to take my word for it. In any case, I like running down there, and when you factor that in alongside the two days off and the pleasant meteorological conditions, it was a pretty fine run, indeed. Even if it did feel more like mid-April than mid-December.

I'll be back tomorrow (I've got to cram as many miles in as I can before leaving for the west coast a week from today), probably in East New York or maybe Canarsie. As usual, I'll let you know once I'm done. Meanwhile, a few pictures from this morning:

Church on 40th Street

Factory on Farragut Road

Houses on New York Avenue

Apartment building on Kings Highway

Mosaic on St. Vincent Ferrer School, 37th Street & Glenwood Avenue

Runs Brooklyn, Phase Two

2006-12-12T13:18:00.000-05:00

Although the title of today's post sounds a little like it might be referring to a condo development down in Bergen Beach or something, the real topic is my strategy for running the next major part of Brooklyn. If, of course, you can call what I've come up with a strategy at all, since admittedly it consists of little more than drawing an arbitary line on a map. As I've mentioned on here any number of times, my basic goal for what turned out being the first 35% or so of Brooklyn streets was to start at the southernmost neighborhoods and just fill in all the streets below a line that followed 65th Street (on the Bay Ridge/Sunset Park border) to Avenue P (which separates Midwood from Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay) and onto Flatlands Avenue, which runs through Flatlands and Canarsie and East New York almost to the border with Queens.

A couple of weeks ago (with the run around Floyd Bennett Field), I finally finished this part up, and now, at long last, it's time to announce my strategy for the next few months (I know, the suspense is probably unbearable). So without further ado, here it is: I'll continue working my way north through neighborhoods like Midwood and East Flatbush and Borough Park, while simultaneously working west through East New York and Brownsville. Yeah, I know. Pretty anticlimactic.

Anyway, I've drawn another imaginary line across the borough, this time starting around 15th Street in Gowanus and stretching east to Prospect Park, continuing around the southern boundary of the park itself (Prospect Park South and Parkside Avenue, specifically), on to the few blocks of Flatbush Avenue betweem Parkside Avenue and Linden Boulevard, east on Linden Boulevard out to Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville, up to Cooper Street in Bushwick, and then up to the Queens border. For those who are more geographically or visually oriented, here's a simple map. The blue line shows the northern edge of "phase one" (I know, but I can't think of anything else to call it), while the red line shows the limit of "phase two" (and the black line is the border with Queens):

The plan now is simply to run everything between the blue and red lines (and west of the black one, naturally). At this point I'm not really sure when I'll complete all this, but sometime in April seems as good a guess as any. And once I've finished up, as you can see, I'll be left with a nice, compact area centered more or less around Clinton Hill (and none of which should be more than about a 20- or 25-minute subway ride from home, thankfully) for the third and final phase, which will take me into the summer. (For those unfamiliar with Brooklyn's geography, I live in Greenpoint, which is the neighborhood at the very top of the map.) As of now I'm looking to finish running the whole borough by August 1st, provided I can keep up roughly the same pace, don't get run over by an SUV doing 60 down a residential side street, and, of course, I am able to maintain the full use of my legs and feet.

Speaking of, I once again find myself kind of sore (I guess the naproxen's not the miracle drug I initially thought), and I may take tomorrow off, too. But whether I run tomorrow or not, I feel a whole lot better knowing there's some organizing principle behind this next stage of my project, however tenuous it may be.

Bonus photo from the archives:

63rd Street, Borough Park

City Line and Sun Dogs

2006-12-11T13:33:00.000-05:00

Monday 12/11, Run #98: East New York

Distance: 9.71 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:45
Temp: 46
Wind Chill: 38
Weather: sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.96
Total Unique Miles: 766.51
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 43.99

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Today, the new week found me heading back toward East New York, where the systematic filling-in of the neighborhood has begun in earnest. Although I typically don't plan more than one run ahead and I don't follow any certain order for which neighborhoods I visit, I imagine I'll probably be heading back out there at least once a week for the next couple of months as I work my way from the far eastern reaches of the borough back towards the center. Actually, I've pretty much decided how I'll approach running the next third or so of Brooklyn, but I'll write it up separately on my next off day. Which will probably be tomorrow, given how I'm feeling right about now.

Most of my route today was in and around the community of City Line, which is either part of East New York, part of Cypress Hills, or its own little neighborhood, depending on who you ask or which resources you consult. And while East New York itself is one of the two neighborhoods (the other is Brownsville) that people consistently warn me about when informed of my plans to run the whole borough, the streets I ran today didn't seem too bad. Sure, there were some run-down parts, but the main commercial thoroughfares like Pitkin and Liberty Avenues were lined with small businesses and many of the side streets had a number of handsome houses, even if some of them were indeed a little rough around the edges. I did see a few young men trying their best to look menacing, and there was this one kid standing on a corner who glared as I passed. A few minutes later, having looped around a few other blocks and heading back past the same point, I passed him again. He just looked up, cracked a bit of a smile, and said "that was quick." Of course, most of the people I saw were doing the things that New Yorkers are doing at 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning -- walking their kids to school, going to work, reading the paper, sweeping the stoop, or chatting with their neighbors.

That said, I'm not naive, nor do I believe that aren't people out there in some pockets of the city who could potentially do me harm. I think running in the morning helps, as does looking like you know what you're doing and not appearing too out of place (something that admittedly is not always possible). I have however, discovered one troubling aspect of running in some of the lower-income neighborhoods -- I sometimes feel overly self-conscious when I stop to take pictures. In fact, I deliberately avoid taking many pictures of particularly run-down houses or decrepit buildings, since it makes me feel like a tourist slumming in the worst parts of town, exoticizing the people who live there and trading off the poverty, crime, and official neglect they're forced to deal with on a regular basis. Most of the time I try to find things to photograph that are interesting enough I'd take pictures regardless of where I was, but it is hard at times to do that while also finding subjects that speak of the specificity of place.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll write more on this kind of thing as I spend more time in these neighborhoods. Regardless, I'll probably be taking tomorrow off and will resume things on Wednesday, though I'm not yet sure where.

For more on the City Line area, check out Forgotten New York's extensive page on the neighborhood (which includes plenty of pictures, too).

Store on Pitkin Avenue

Garage on Lincoln Avenue

Mural on Glenmore Avenue

Hemlock Street

Where Drew Street dead ends at the subway tracks just north of Glenmore Ave

Another brightly colored building (corner of Pitkin Ave and Crescent St.)

Sun dog over the Linden Plaza Homes

Another Windy One

2006-12-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

Sunday 12/10, Run #97: Borough Park

Distance: 9.31 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:31
Temp: 38
Wind Chill: 28
Weather: sunny & windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.71
Total Unique Miles: 758.56
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 43.54

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Today took me back down to Borough Park, the mostly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood just to the east of Sunset Park (where I was yesterday). I've run quite a bit down there already so I mostly know what to expect -- a lot of people out on the streets and sidewalks, scores of women pushing young kids in strollers (Borough Park has one of the highest birth rates in the city), and, of course, plenty of residential streets. In fact, there's a wide variety of housing on the streets I visited today, from older (but often quite handsome) six-story apartment buildings on 15th Avenue to rowhouses to semi-detached wood frame houses to a handful of enormous and apparently recently-built residences. A more commercial district is on 16th Avenue, with shops and bookstores and bakeries and a variety of other smaller businesses. And tucked away in the southern reaches of the neighborhood are a few streets -- 62nd and 63rd, especially -- with garages and small warehouses and light manufacturing (not so many people down there on a Sunday, but with the bright sunshine at an almost perfect oblique angle, there was a good number of interesting things to photograph). All in all another perfectly fine run, and if it started getting a bit warm near the end (the forecast high here is in the low 50s), it was balanced nicely by a blustery southwestern wind. It's always something.

In other running-related news, the Times ran this story in which some doctors question whether participating in marathons can actually cause heart damage in otherwise healthy individuals. Cited is the apparent rise in the numbers of marathoners who have literally dropped dead during a race (this happened to a woman my age a few years ago when I ran Chicago), though the researchers admit this might just be a statistical anomoly. I've run seven, and I know some of the regular readers here have quite a bit of marathon experience as well, so this is certainly some interesting reading. Not that any of us will stop running, of course.

Although Borough Park doesn't quite have the density of eye-grabbing photographic subjects that one can find in, say, Sunset Park or Bed-Stuy, I still managed to find at least a few things to point my camera at:

Former laundry(?) on 63rd Street

Books, tapes, and tefillin repair on 16th Avenue

One of the many older apartment buildings on 15th Avenue

Garage on 62nd Street

16th Avenue

Corner of 15th Avenue and 63rd Street

Senses Working Overtime

2006-12-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

Saturday 12/9, Run #96: Sunset Park

Distance: 8.83 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:22
Temp: 28
Wind Chill: 16
Weather: sunny & windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.58
Total Unique Miles: 750.85
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 43.09

For the complete route, click here

Notes: After an unscheduled extra day off yesterday (which, by the way, probably had nothing to do with the frigid temperatures and eight-degree wind chill), I was back on the road today for another visit to Sunset Park. I really enjoy running this neighborhood, and one of the things I like best is that it's kind of a multisensory experience -- especially along 5th Avenue, which in many ways is the Hispanic counterpart to the neighborhood's Chinese-American axis a few blocks over on 8th Avenue. In addition to enough visual distractions that it's pretty much a miracle I didn't get run over or knock over any pedestrians, there's also music coming from stores or blaring from car stereos (and, at one point, from a guy singing and playing the accordian with fingers that must've been completely frozen), and the various smells (mostly good ones, too), wafting out from the many restaruants and bakeries.

In fact, because of the bustling streets and the obvious Hispanic and Chinese influences it's the kind of place that a travel guide would call something like a "vibrant ethnic enclave." That's all well and good, of course, but I don't think the travel guides pay too much attention to what made the biggest impression on me as a runner, and that's the hills -- which are especially steep moving up from 3rd to 6th Avenues. My legs haven't received a workout like this in a while.

Okay, I'll be back tomorrow with more stories and hopefully, a handful of photos. In the meantime, here's a few from today:

Under the Gowanus Expressway

5th Avenue

Also on 5th Avenue

51st Street

Last day for this mural on 47th Street

Wedding cakes on 5th Avenue

Off Day Odds and Ends

2006-12-07T10:26:00.000-05:00

After some mild slacking off in the first half of November, I've been running a bit more of late. In fact, since Thanksgiving I've logged just under 70 unique miles, and I'm going to try to squeeze in another 70 or 80 before I head out to California to see my sister at Christmas (including travel days, it looks like I'll be missing about 10 days of running). The goal now is to hit the halfway point -- 871 unique miles -- by January 15th. This should keep me on pace to have the whole borough wrapped up by August 1st. Anyway, since I'm taking a day off today, I wanted to briefly (or, given my natural tendency toward prolixity, maybe not so briefly) touch on a few things that I've meaning to mention but which haven't found their way into my regular posts. Here goes.

From the Runs Brooklyn Pharmaceutical Desk

Regular readers may have noticed that, recently, at least, I've been complaining less about the many running-related aches and pains I've accumulated thus far in my adventures (especially those involving my heels). And I know, some of you must be wondering – is it some kind of miracle cure? Has my body completely regenerated itself despite my continuing to punish it in the course of my near-obsessive quest? Have I taken the healing waters at some secret or hitherto unknown spa? Has my diet – in which oatmeal, vegan cardamom cookies, chana masala, and Black & Green's chocolate bars comprise the bulk of my caloric intake – somehow been proven to have medicinal effects? Have I actually been getting more than my typical five hours of nightly sleep?

Actually, it's none of these. But I have discovered naproxen, the active ingredient in Aleve (though the generic version from my local Eckerd is half the price of the name-brand stuff). It's both an analgesic and a very effective anti-inflammatory, and – for me, at least – seems to be much more effective than ibuprofen. So if I'm not going to take better care of myself, I can at least subvert my body's natural warnings and make it hurt less by stuffing it full of pills. That'll teach it.

Photographic Update

Over on my flickr site (where I keep the photos I post here), they let you keep track of how many times people view your pictures. It's a cool feature, but it only serves to highlight how capricious and random such things are. My picture of the statue outside St. Ephram's Church (the one in which a pensive Jesus cradles the twin towers of the World Trade Center) has been viewed a remarkable 10,463 times (as of this morning), while my second most-viewed photo -- of a grocery in Flatlands -- has garnered 292 hits. Only one other picture tops 100, and the median number of views seems to be around 11 or 12. Weird.

Retreating Across the River

New York magazine this week has a feature article on the "hottest" new neighborhood in the city, which turns out to be – hold on to your hats – Jersey City, New Jersey. So in an effort to demonstrate my own prescience and urban hipster credentials, maybe this would be a good place to point out that I am apparently a pioneer of sorts, having lived in Jersey City from 1987-1989. Take that, Williamsburgers! Of course, I lived in a tiny, illegal, $300/month unheated attic apartment in which giant mushrooms would grow out of the bathroom carpet overnight. And it was on Bartholdi Avenue, only a few blocks from the border with Bayonne, which I'm afraid will probably never be on anyone's list of hottest anything.

Will Self Walks Brooklyn

Lastly, I'm not quite sure what to make of this story in yesterday's New York Times, in which it was reported that British writer and erstwhile self-destructive party boy Will Self recently walked to his Manhattan hotel from JFK airport, a trek of over twenty miles (most of it right here in Brooklyn). On one hand, the pedestrian in me can't help but applaud anyone who serves to remind us that there are indeed alternatives to driving, and that the best way to really get a feel for a place is to do so from the ground, making your way along a sidewalk under your own power. And twenty miles, no matter how you look at it, is a serious walk.

On the other hand, Self's new novel, The Book of Dave, was published just three weeks ago (to mostly positive reviews), and the cynic in me can't help but sniff at what is obviously a publicity stunt (unless, of course, the author just happened to run into a reporter and photographer from the Times out on Conduit Boulevard somewhere). Self's semi-pretentious and somewhat self-congratulatory proclamations on issues like race and urban geography are certainly entertaining enough (sample: "In the post-industrial age, this is the only form of real exploration left. Anyone can go and see the Ituri pygmy, but how many people have walked all the way from the airport to the city?"), though not as much as the reporter's admiration of the fact that Self actually walked (and against Rick Moody's advice, too!) through East New York and Brownsville. This shouldn't really be too surprising, since the author has a history of media-savvy self-promotion designed to draw attention to him at publication time. Right around the release of 1997's Great Apes, for instance, Self got himself kicked off British Prime Minister John Major's airplane for allegedly shooting heroin in the loo, which precipitated a field day among the UK's tabloids -- the clippings of which were thoughtfully included by his publicists in the novel's press kit.

Bottom line: The walk itself was a pretty cool thing to do. Brooklyn is huge, and dense with people and buildings and all kinds of things to look at and think about. And seeing it on your feet is indeed a wonderful way to experience it, especially those neighborhoods which many in the media (and blog world*) regularly ignore. But Self should be wary of appearing a bit full of himself – there are, after all, thousands of walkers, cyclists, joggers, part-time historians, parrot-watchers, street artists, amateur geographers, urban explorers of various stripes, and yes, runners, that already know this.

(That said, I'll also include a sheepish confession: as publicity stunts go this one's apparently quite effective – I kind of want to read his book now. Seriously, after reading the article and a few reviews, I have to admit I'm intrigued. I'll probably wait for the paperback, however.)

*I refuse to use the word "blogosphere," simply on principle.

Okay, enough of my thoughts. Instead, I'll move right on to a few bonus pictures from the last week's runs:

Church on Farragut Road (the same one from yesterday's post, actually)

55th Street and 5th Avenue in Sunset Park

Old advertisement on Flatbush Avenue

Only 999 Miles Left!

2006-12-06T11:35:00.000-05:00

Wednesday 12/06, Run #95: Midwood, Flatlands, East Flatbush, Flatbush

Distance: 9.88 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:36
Temp: 33
Wind Chill: 26
Weather: sunny & breezy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.44
Total Unique Miles: 743.27
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 42.66

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Yes, the day has finally come. Since the beginning of this whole project, I've been using a figure of exactly 1742 miles as my estimate of the total mileage of all Brooklyn streets. This is essentially a guess, though, since I don't think anyone knows what the exact distance is. I got this number from the Department of Transportation's website, where it was reported in a study about the bumpiness of the borough's roads. Yet other folks at the same bureau apparently offer the number of 1599 miles, and it's this number that tends to show up when newspapers or other media do a little story on me. I'm not sure why that is, but whatever.

Anyway, I've been going with the more conservative figure of 1742 when I provide statistics like "percent of brooklyn run." My operating theory is that if it ends up being close to that, I'll be prepared, and if it's the lower number, well, all the better for me. The truth is, I won't have an accurate number until I'm actually finished with all this. Now, what does this all have to do with anything? I'll tell you. You see, today my unique mile total reached 743. And that means that if I'm using the 1742 number as my best guess (which I am, of course), the number representing the number of miles I've got yet to go has dropped from the four-digit into the three-digit range. Simply put, as of right now I've got only 999 more miles to go! Yeah, I know, it's still a lot. But believe me, it sounds a lot better than a thousand-something.

The run itself was a solid one, filling in some holes on the "big map," especially in Midwood and Flatlands, but moving through a couple of other neighborhoods as well. I like this area, and so it made things that much more enjoyable. And while I still don't yet have gloves, I was otherwise prepared for the chilly morning, and wasn't too uncomfortable either while on the road or sitting on the subway for the ride home. After three runs in the past three days totalling almost 30 miles, however, I'm taking tomorrow off.

For whatever reason it was another lackluster outing from a photographic perspective, I'm afraid, but here's the best of what I came up with:

Day care place on E. 15th Street

E. 19th Street

Church on Farragut Road

E. 19th and Avenue M

Grandstand at the Midwood High School athletic field (Avenue L)

Another Cold One

2006-12-05T11:56:00.000-05:00

Tuesday 12/5, Run #94: East New York

Distance: 10.05 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:28
Temp: 30
Wind Chill: 21
Weather: sunny & breezy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.96
Total Unique Miles: 734.84
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 42.14

For the complete route, click here

Notes: On this, a chilly but otherwise beautiful morning, I went back to the one of the bleaker corners of the borough. As I did a week ago, I headed out to the southeastern, industrial corner of East New York to start filling in the streets out there in earnest. Though I started and finished right by the Euclid Avenue stop on the A and C (a mostly residential area), I spent a good amount of time among the warehouses, small factories, recycling facilities, Sanitation Department garages, and schoolbus depots bewteen Linden Boulevard and Flatlands Avenue, or skirting the perimeters of the Louis Pink and Cypress Hills housing projects. I was a bit more comfortable than I was yesterday, however, since I actually wore my long running pants (they're on the thin side but still pretty warm) for the first time since I started back in June. I also felt a bit less conspicuous, too, which is not a bad thing since there were quite a few strange looks yesterday, when I was out there wearing just shorts and a long-sleeve tee.

Speaking of things weather-related, astute readers might have noticed a minor change in the information at the top of the page -- from now until springtime I've decided to provide the wind chill instead of the dewpoint. The latter, of course, is a terrific way of gauging how oppressive the air is in the warmer months, but doesn't really mean as much in the winter. And while I have my own problems with the overuse of wind chill numbers, they do give some idea of what it's like out there.

Anyway, picture opportunities were pretty limited today, mostly because for a good part of my run there wasn't really much to photograph except for brick walls and forklifts (though, like yesterday, numbness was a factor as well -- I've really got to get some gloves). Here are a few nontheless:

Euclid Avenue

Off of Autumn Avenue

North of Linden Boulevard

Just off Linden Boulevard

Shepherd Avenue

Winter (Finally!) Arrives in Brooklyn

2006-12-04T14:06:00.000-05:00

Monday 12/4, Run #93: Sunset Park, Borough Park

Distance: 9.34 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:30
Temp: 38
Dewpoint: 23
Weather: sunny & windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.55
Total Unique Miles: 726.88
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 41.72

For the complete route, click here

Notes: On my last post I'd asked where winter had been hiding out, and today I received the answer -- it wasn't avoiding Brooklyn at all, apparently, but merely waiting to make a more dramatic entrance. True, it was a not-unusual-for-December 38 degrees when I headed out this morning, but a strong northwestern wind in the wake of a cold front that moved through last night is making it feel a whole lot colder. Now, given how crabby I've been about the unseasonably warm November we've had out here I suppose I should keep my mouth shut and enjoy it, but it was pretty chilly out there. I even wore long sleeves.

Today's run was a productive one, netting over eight unique miles and taking me through the neighborhoods of Sunset Park and Borough Park, which boast not only quite a bit to see and sidewalks crowded with people busily going about their morning routines, but a delightfully symmetrical street grid (and with consistently numbered streets). Without having to worry as much about where I am or whether I'm still following my route, I can relax just a bit more -- and spend more time looking around at the streetscape than scanning street signs to make sure I'm on course. Both neighborhoods exhibit a particularly strong sense of place, with the influences of the predominant ethnic communities ("Brooklyn's Chinatown" in this corner of Sunset Park, Orthodox Jews in Borough Park) being similarly pronounced, especially along the main thoroughfares like 8th Avenue and 13th Avenue, respectively. The residential streets in both areas are pleasant enough, with some especially nice rowhouses and brownstones in Sunset Park between 4th and 6th Avenues. Altogether a pretty nice run, though I've really got to invest in some gloves -- I could barely operate my (already simple-to-operate) camera by the end because my fingers were so numb.

In the world beyond running and Brooklyn, I attended the memorial service for my younger sister Tara in Augusta, Georgia, this past Saturday. All of my immediate family and most of my extended family was there, and it was great to see them all, even if the reason for our gathering was less than festive. Special thanks again to Linda, Kristen, Jen, Ron, Renee, Nel, Susan, Spike, Gardy, and everyone else who took the time out to offer support through comments and emails. It sounds a little odd -- since I barely know most of you -- but these messages were very much appreciated and helped me quite a bit during the last few weeks.

And speaking of comments, I've begun using the "word verification" feature that requires you to type in a series of letters and/or numbers before posting. This is not to make it more difficult to post comments (actually, I really enjoy reading them), but because in the last week or so I've started receiving more comment spam, which bugs me to no end. So I apologize if this makes leaving comments just a bit more of a pain, but please keep them coming anyway! Thanks.

A few of the pictures I managed to take despite shivering hands:

58th Street

56th Street

8th Avenue

Synagogue on 15th Avenue

Restaurant on 7th Avenue

Muggy Morning in Midwood

2006-11-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

Thursday 11/30, Run #92: Midwood, Marine Park, Flatlands

Distance: 8.70 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:28
Temp: 59
Dewpoint: 56
Weather: overcast & muggy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.11
Total Unique Miles: 718.33
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 41.23

Notes: After a couple of longer, more complex, and logistically complicated runs, I decided to take it somewhat easier today. My destination was down in the Midwood and Marine Park neighborhoods, where I was able to dutifully fill in a number of streets (including a little stretch of Avenue P which I somehow had managed to miss previously) in a mostly quiet, residential area. It was a pretty straightforward route, and perhaps best of all (especially given how long it took me to get to the Marine Parkway Bridge for the start of yesterday's run), it both started and finished within a couple of blocks of the subway. I saw the typical Midwood Streetscape, for the most part -- a lot of large, single-family detached houses, some impressive old apartment buildings along parts of Avenue N (like the Versailles, pictured below), and the oddly inconguous Locust Avenue, a shorter street at an angle to the rest of the grid that dead-ends at the subway line and appears conspicuously out of place with its grittier and more industrial-looking buildings.

By the way, what's up with the weather? It was 59 when I headed out this morning, and the forecast is for a high in the upper 60s. Upper sixties! And tomorrow's the first day of December! In fact, now that I think about it, I haven't done a run yet this fall where I've worn anything more substantial than just running shorts and a t-shirt (though there were a few mornings when I started with a long-sleeve tee before shedding it after a mile or so and tying it around my waist). I mean, it's not like I'm really eager to run on a windy morning in the teens with snow and ice on the ground, but I wouldn't mind some, you know, seasonable weather. This morning felt a lot more like early September than the week after Thanksgiving.

Finally, I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for Georgia, to attend the memorial service for my sister Tara on Saturday. It'll be a quick trip (I'll be back Sunday night) but obviously, I won't be running again until at least Monday. See you then.

As always, some photos:

Corner of Coney Island Avenue & Avenue M

Locust Avenue

Corner of Locust Avenue and E. 13th

E. 9th Street

Avenue N

Some Truly Unique Miles

2006-11-29T14:55:00.000-05:00

Wednesday 11/29, Run #91: Marine Parkway Bridge, Floyd Bennett Field, Flatlands

Distance: 11.34 miles
Time: 1:25
Pace: 7:30
Temp: 54
Dewpoint: 50
Weather: mostly cloudy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.20
Total Unique Miles: 711.21
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 40.82

For the complete route, click here

Notes: I use the words "unique miles" around here quite a bit, but the term also could apply to most of today's run since the route was so unusual in a number of ways. First, it was the only run I've done which actually began in another borough (Queens). Second, it's the only time I've started a run on a bridge (though back in August I did end one on the Pulaski Bridge here in Greenpoint). Third, it's the only time I've traveled by bus to get to the start of a run (the Q35, which took me from the end of the 2 subway line at Nostrand and Flatbush Avenues and deposited me in on the far side of Rockaway Inlet after almost half an hour). But mostly, it's the only time I've done the majority of a run on the grounds of an abandoned airport.

Floyd Bennett Field, which occupies most of a large peninsula in the southeast corner of Brooklyn (it was originally an island, actually), was intended as New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's answer to Newark's burgeoning commercial airfield during the 1930s. For a number of reasons (including the Post Office's refusal to move its airmail terminal there), the airport never, uh, took off, and during World War II the US Navy moved in, using it as Naval Air Station Brooklyn until 1971. The following year, the National Park Service took over, incorporating it into the Gateway National Recreation Area. Though it never amounted to much as a commercial venture, it was apparently particularly attractive to a number of famous aviators back in the 1930s -- including Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes -- who used it as a base for various record-setting flights.

I won't go into the airport's history here since it's well-documented elsewhere (if you're interested, check out the links below), but it was an especially interesting place to run. It doesn't look like much has happened since the Navy left back in the 1970s -- a number of deteriorating buildings dot the landscape, in various stages of abandonment or disrepair. The NYPD has a sizeable corner cordoned off for a training facility (I asked the guard if I could run there, but was politely denied), and the Sanitation Department has a similar operation going on. The Park Service maintains several buildings, and there are even a few private residences (in what I assume were the former homes of Navy officers, though I'm not sure). The majority of the land is empty, however, with broad concrete runways taking up quite a bit of the real estate. On the southwestern edge (along Flatbush Avenue) are the old hangars and the administration building, which now houses Park Service offices and an information center. One of the hangars has been converted to a huge, modern gym/fitness center/entertainment complex called Aviator Sports, which evidently only opened two weeks ago. I didn't go in.

Like Fort Hamilton, I'm not sure if Floyd Bennett Field is even considered an actual part of Brooklyn (especially since it's under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service). But I really enjoyed running around the old airfield, partly because there was almost no one around, and partly because it was, to be honest, kind of cool to be running down what used to be an old runway and poking around the hangars. The Marine Parkway Bridge (which connects Brooklyn and the narrow little strip of Queens that fronts the Atlantic Ocean) was also a lot of fun to run across, largely due to the fact that it had a separate pedestrian/bike lane, adding both to the safety and legality of my crossing.

Finally, this now wraps up my goal of running everything south of a line across the borough formed by 65th Street, Avenue P, and Flatlands Avenue. As you might recall, I did this because I live in the northernmost neighborhood in Brooklyn, and wanted to finish up the areas farthest away before the cold weather set in. (Considering it was close to 60 degrees today, I'll say "mission accomplished.") Anyway, as soon as I figure out some kind of strategy for the next portion of this project, I'll be sure to post it. In the meantime, here are a number of links (the Forgotten New York page is especially interesting and includes dozens of pictures), as well as a few photos.

Marine Parkway Bridge

Detail on the old administration building at Floyd Bennett Field

Inside one of the old hangars

Outside one of the old hangars

Corner of Flatbush Avenue & Kings Highway

Flatbush Avenue

Out on the Eastern Frontier

2006-11-28T13:35:00.001-05:00

Tuesday 11/28, Run #90: East New York

Distance: 9.43 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:25
Temp: 54
Dewpoint: 45
Weather: mostly cloudy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.68
Total Unique Miles: 703.01
Percent of Brooklyn: 40.35

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Today's was another run I'd been dreading for a while. Not so much because of the neighborhood itself (though most of it was in a rather bleak and industrial corner of East New York), but because the route included several areas where I really didn't know what I'd find until I got there. In fact, there were at least three separate spots that were empty on the "big map," but in which Google maps showed some sort of development (like vacant land being graded in patterns that resembled the street grid, for instance), suggesting that roads may have been built there subsequent to the satellite pictures being taken. Perhaps because of my somewhat obsessive nature, or maybe because I simply don't enjoy being lost, I find that I anticipate (and enjoy) my runs much more when I'm pretty sure about where I'm going and can sketch out the exact route on my little map ahead of time. And that wasn't the case today.

Yet I ran anyway -- I'd have to do it sooner or later, of course, and I figured I might as well do it now when it's unseasonably warm out. And now that I'm back home and looking over the "big map," I'm glad I did. The route plugged up a lingering (and sizeable) hole along the Brooklyn/Queens boundary (I've now run the entire length of this border, with the exception of a little piece in the Highland Park area and the parts up here in Greenpoint and Williamsburg), and filled in a number of streets in the far southwest frontier of the borough. I didn't run through many tree-lined residential streets, since wide swaths of this region are filled with public housing complexes (at different points I ran near or through the Louis Pink, Boulevard, Cypress Hills, and Linden projects), warehouses (especially south of Linden Boulevard), and an enormous US Postal Service facility, which sprawls over something like a dozen blocks. There is also the MTA's Spring Creek Bus Depot down that way, as well as a large Sanitation Department facility on Forbell Avenue.

Overall, though, this area leaves a decidedly mixed impression. On the one hand, it's easy to tell you're at the (seemingly forgotten) edge of the borough. Empty lots -- strewn with trash and weeds and who knows what -- abound, and sidewalks are damaged or nonexistent for whole blocks. Some streets were flooded with several feet of water. Roads are cracked and filled with potholes. And the brave motorists that venture through anyway seem to have incorporated the frontier mentality into their driving -- stop signs, for instance, were almost universally ignored. But on the other hand, whole blocks were being developed with fairly attractive rowhouses and apartments, complete with little yards now bearing a few strips of fresh sod (and yes, several new streets had apparently been built). Indeed, an article in the Post from last summer detailed how "luxury" houses costing $500-600K were being constructed in the neighborhood (only a few blocks from the notorious Louis Pink project), and were selling faster than they could be built. So it's really a mixed bag -- half blighted decrepitude and half new investment and development. It'll be interesting to see what this area's like in 10 or 15 years.

Oh, and by the way, two minor milestones today: first, I topped 700 unique miles, for whatever that's worth. And second, I (finally) reached 40% of Brooklyn run (it seemed like I was mired in the 30s forever). Despite the week and a half I'll be at my sister Mel's in California for Christmas, I'm still hoping to hit the halfway mark by the end of January. As always with this whole thing, time will tell.

Okay, sorry for the long post. I'll shut up now and quickly move on to the photographic segment:

Sapphire Street, on the Brooklyn/Queens border

Looking north on Logan Street

Old incinerator on Forbell Street

New houses on Grant Avenue, with the huge Postal Service facility beyond

Ghost bike memorial for 10-year old Shamar Porter on Linden Boulevard (click here to see the photo essay on ghost bikes from Sunday's Times)

All Abuzz in Midwood

2006-11-26T13:34:00.000-05:00

Sunday 11/26, Run #89: Midwood

Distance: 8.63 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:32
Temp: 47
Dewpoint: 38
Weather: mostly sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.93
Total Unique Miles: 695.33
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 39.91

For the complete route, click here

Notes: When I was a young boy back in the 1970s, long before I ever dreamed of running as something of a recreational activity, there were a lot of people worried about killer bees. Allegedly, some honeybees that had interbred with wild African bees had somehow gotten loose in Brazil, and were making their way through Central America and Mexico and on into the United States. Widespread fear was stoked by books like Arthur Herzog's novel The Swarm (and its subsequent Irwin Allen film adaptation), and -- if I remember correctly -- at least a few kitschy and sensationalistic made-for-TV movies.

What does this have to do with running Brooklyn? Not much, except that like the killer bees, I continue my inexorable march north. Today found me back in Midwood, a pleasant, mostly residential, mostly Jewish neighborhood that is -- as its name might imply -- kind of in the middle of Brooklyn's southern half. I did not, however, see any woods, but there were plenty of streets, and since I'm a little tired today and simply didn't want to deal with a lot of planning, I plotted a fairly simple route that took me back and forth in area mostly between Avenues K and O. And keeping in mind that the street grid in Brooklyn continues well south of Avenue Z, that represents real, measurable progress. Furthermore, I have every intention of actually continuing to press northward -- unlike the aforementioned lazy bees, whose killer instincts proved quite underwhelming and which mostly ended up sticking around Texas. This, of course, is fine with me.

Whatever. Though the streets I ran today were mostly residential, there was an interesting mix of housing. Larger apartment buildings were more common on the western edges of the route, while single-family homes -- some of them remarkably large and newish-looking -- dominated to the east of Ocean Avenue (I've included a picture of one of the more striking examples below). It was another pleasant morning in the 40s, and though the forecast calls for more nice weather tomorrow, I'm taking the day off. In fact, today's run made three in a row, the first time I'd done that since early September. Anyway, I'll probably be back on the road Tuesday. In the meantime, here are a few photos, and I'll keep you posted regarding any further developments on the bee front.

Avenue M

Residence on E. 23rd Street

Avenue M

Coney Island Avenue

PS 197 on E. 23rd

Finishing Up Dyker Heights

2006-11-25T13:17:00.000-05:00

Saturday 11/25, Run #88: Dyker Heights, Borough Park, Sunset Park

Distance: 9.15 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:39
Temp: 46
Dewpoint: 30
Weather: sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.54
Total Unique Miles: 687.40
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 39.45

For the complete route, click here

Notes: I began today by running that pesky block of 7th Avenue down by the Dyker Beach golf course that I had (quite irritatingly) missed yesterday (it was all of .0921 miles long), then made my way up to the "real" start on the border between Dyker Heights and Sunset Park. Overall, this morning's run served to fill in a hole of sorts on the "big map" (a wedge-shaped piece of Dyker Heights between Fort Hamilton Parkway and 7th Avenue), before I moved north into the southwestern corner of Borough Park. It was a sunny and relatively warm morning, but the high point for me is probably that Dyker Heights now moves over into the "completed column," leaving just one run at the very eastern edge of East New York and one across the Marine Parkway Bridge and into Floyd Bennett Field to complete the whole southern third of the borough. If the pleasant weather holds out, maybe I can even finish this week.

Altogether a fine if uneventful run, with a mix of residential and commercial blocks and a mostly Asian-American and Hispanic flavor (except for a few blocks in Borough Park, which bore the evidence of the Hasidic community there). If only the weather could stay like this all winter...

I took a few more pictures today than I did yesterday, so here's a representative sampling:

11th Avenue

Behind a fruit market (10th Avenue)

Fort Hamilton Parkway between 59th and 60th

64th Street

65th Street

No, Fort Hamilton the Fort

2006-11-24T15:55:00.000-05:00

Friday 11/24, Run # 87: Fort Hamilton, Dyker Heights

Distance: 9.12 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:41
Temp: 50
Dewpoint: 28
Weather: sunny & breezy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 5.13
Total Unique Miles: 679.86
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 39.02

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Is Fort Hamilton -- the actual military installation at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge -- even part of Brooklyn? I have no idea. I mean, it's an Army base, and the army's part of the US government, so presumably it's under federal jurisdiction and not technically part of Kings County at all, right? But then again, it's physically surrounded by Brooklyn, and its history is entwined with that of the borough. And the southern part of Bay Ridge is sometimes considered a sub-neighborhood called, surely enough, Fort Hamilton. So although it's a toss-up, I suppose, in the interest of completeness I decided to run it anyway (bet no one saw that coming!).

The facility itself is pleasant enough, and included what I assume are the usual army base staples (commissary, PX, post office, bowling alley), though it was pretty quiet and seemed almost deserted today, the day after Thanksgiving. The original stone fort overlooking the water now houses the Harbor Defense Museum, and the views of the bridge from the down there are fantastic. After I finished up at the fort, however, I ran up to the northern edges of Dyker Heights, hoping to fill in a few gaps I'd left along 7th Avenue, managing to hit them all, except one -- the block between 88th and 90th Streets, the stretch that was closest to the fort in the first place. Grrrr. Now I'll have to make a separate trip down there one of these days just to get that one block...

Anyway, a quick history of Fort Hamilton (cribbed mostly from various internet sources) for those who are interested in such things: The fort's military significance was apparent as early as 1776, when the original battery there fired on the British ship HMS Asia as it brought in troops to suppress the nascent American Revolution, but its importance grew after the War of 1812 and expanded during the nineteenth century (the actual stone fort was built in the 1820s). At various points, Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and erroneously reputed "inventor" of baseball Abner Doubleday were all officers assigned to the fort. Fort Hamilton now supports many of the area's Reserve and National Guard units, among other things.

I didn't get the chance to take many pictures today, but here are a few:

Building 216A, apparently

Tank on General Lee Avenue

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, with the old fort in the foreground

Flo-Jo in Bed-Stuy

2006-11-21T07:17:00.000-05:00

Tuesday 11/21, Run #86: Bedford-Stuyvesant

Distance: 8.61 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:33
Temp: 38
Dewpoint: 25
Weather: sunny & breezy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.51
Total Unique Miles: 674.73
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 38.73

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Today I abandoned all pretense of sticking to my elaborate plans and just went for the easiest run I could come up with. And this morning's excursion couldn't have been much simpler -- it was a direct, 12-minute subway ride from home, it started and finished right at the subway stop, and the route itself was basically just a big rectangle with four of the interior streets filled in. No dead ends, no cul-de-sacs, no weird unnamed streets or doubling back over my route or anything. Just a nice, symmetrical, very efficient run on a chilly but pretty fall morning. It added eight and a half unique miles to my total, but it also cleared my head and made me feel a lot better. I can always go back to the complicated runs tomorrow, I suppose, or the next day.

The parts of Bed-Stuy I saw today sure have a lot of incredible architecture -- just block after block of beautiful houses and interesting buildings in a diverse array of styles. I could've taken a thousand pictures, I think, but in the spirit of the aforementioned ease and efficiency, I reined myself in. One of the many visual highpoints was a painted tribute to Florence Griffith Joyner (better known to many as Flo-Jo), the Olympic sprinter who took home three gold medals at Seoul in 1988 but died at age 38 in 1991. It was, I believe, the first running-related street art I've seen thus far.

Finally, a sincere thanks to all who emailed or left comments over the last couple of days. It really is much appreciated.

Some photos:

Lafayette Avenue

Mansard-roofed houses on Putnam Avenue

Tribute to Florence Griffith Joyner on Putnam Ave

Alhambra apartment building on Nostrand Avenue

The side of a stoop on Hancock Street

Church window at Patchen Avenue and Halsey Street

Corner of Putnam and Throop Avenues (I think)

Gray Day

2006-11-19T12:51:00.000-05:00

Sunday 11/19, Run #85: Midwood, Borough Park

Distance: 9.19 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:36
Temp: 44
Dewpoint: 33
Weather: mostly cloudy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.95
Total Unique Miles: 666.22
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 38.24

For the complete route, click here

Notes: I ran today because I didn't know what else to do. Late last night I received the news that my younger sister Tara had died. She was 36 and a Navy veteran, having served in a medical unit in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War. She was also a kind and gentle person, who loved animals and drawing, and did her best to keep the lost art of letter-writing alive -- each year I could count on several cards and missives written in her unfailingly neat (though almost microscopic) handwriting. But she had also had been living with a debilitating mental illness for the last several years, and recently her condition seemed only to worsen. My parents and other siblings, as can be expected, are taking this pretty hard (especially my other sister Mel, who has been mentioned a few times in these posts over the months). I am not a religious person, but if there is indeed an afterlife, it's my hope that Tara is someplace where she has finally found the peace that she found so elusive here.

I apologize for the less-than-jovial tone today, and please forgive me if my posts over the next few days are short, perfunctory, or even nonexistent.

Pictures:

Apartment building on Bay Parkway

59th Street

The colorful corner of 65th Street and Bay Parkway

9/11 memorial at tiny Dahill Triangle (where 23rd Ave, Dahill Road, and 59th meet)

Just your typical Reformed/Lutheran/Russian/Korean church (Avenue P)

Houses on E. 13th Street

I'm Back (and in Bay Ridge)

2006-11-18T13:44:00.000-05:00

Saturday 11/18, Run #84: Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights

Distance: 9.42 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:26
Temp: 46
Dewpoint: 34
Weather: partly cloudy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.72
Total Unique Miles: 658.27
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 37.78

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Yes, I'm back, and feeling okay after the two days off. Obviously, I'm not a dietician, physician, kinesiologist, or physical therapist and thus have no real idea why I was hurting for the last few days, but I nonetheless tried to address as many possibilities as I could. I went to bed earlier, for example, in case I was sleep-deprived. I ate everything in sight, in case I was malnourished, and drank gallons of water to allay any possible dehydration. And, of course, I tried to avoid anything that required using my legs a lot, in the event it was just a simple muscle strain. Mostly, I pretty much committed myself to 48 hours of what Dr. Nick Riviera once referred to as "assal horizontology," and simply took it easy. And while these things didn't add up to some kind of miracle cure, they all probably helped, at least judging by how I felt durning and after the run.

Anyway, I finshed up Bay Ridge today, which makes me both pretty excited (another neighborhood down!) and kind of wistful, since it's probably my favorite neighborhood for running in all of Brooklyn. Hold on a sec. Okay, now that I've shed a tear for the time I won't be spending down there any more, I'm clenching my jaw in a pose of steely resolve, gazing off into the distance, and thinking about all the places I've yet to explore. No time for sentimentality, right? After all, I've still got over 1000 miles to go...

I also hit one (kind of) big milestone today -- with the hour and ten minutes this morning I've now logged 6005 minutes of running on this project, or just over 100 hours. I'm not quite sure if that number sounds super-impressive or remarkably insignificant, but there it is, anyway.

As for completing the southern third of the borough (everything south of my oft-mentioned yet completely arbitrary 65th Street/Avenue P/Flatlands Avenue line), it looks like all I've got left is one run way out on the East New York/Queens border (by the big Post Office facility), a run in which I take the subway out to Rockaway and come back over the Marine Parkway Bridge and poke around Floyd Bennett Field a bit, and one in which I run Fort Hamilton (I'm still working on figuring that one out) and a little corner of Dyker Heights that's left near the fort. That's it! Of course, then I'll have to figure out the plan for the next few months, but I've been kind of working on that a bit behind the scenes here, and I'll post it all here when it's set. Oh, and speaking of maps, if you're wondering why the route up top is blue instead of the usual red, it represents neither a changing artistic vision nor a political statement. I simply saved the map on the gmap-pedometer website before the image itself, instead of the other way around (which is what I usually do). I think I like it better red, so it'll revert to that color tomorrow.

It was beautiful out this morning (at least for us fans of the cooler weather), and tomorrow's supposed to be more of the same. And if all's well physically tomorrow as well, I'll be out there running again. Meanwhile, photos:

Kenruby apartment building on 90th Street

What's wrong with this picture? (Bay Ridge Avenue)

68th Street

On an alley just north of Ovington Avenue

Hello Gorgeous! (Bay Ridge Avenue)

The Thighs Have It

2006-11-16T10:28:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay. I can already hear the multiple choruses of "I told you so" ringing out across the urban streetscape of Brooklyn and wafting in through my front window (or maybe it's just all the car alarms). Cowed and humbled after my defiant (though, in retrospect, conterproductive) tour of Canarsie yesterday, I'm taking at least another day off since, well, since my legs hurt an awful lot and I'm more or less teetering on the verge of physical exhaustion. I know, running 40 miles a week shouldn't leave an otherwise healthy person feeling like this. But I'm really coming to believe (and I've said this before) that I probably hurt myself a while back and just never let myself fully recover. It's not like I don't want to be healthy or pain-free (really, I'd love it!), but when I look at the "big map" and see how much of Brooklyn is left to do... well, I just feel like I ought to be out there making some headway instead of sitting at my desk complaining about how tired I am.

I may take tomorrow off, too -- it'll totally depend on how I feel when I get up. In the meantime, I'll take today to try to write some, and keep off the legs as much as I can. Quads (unlike heels or knees, say) tend to heal up pretty quickly, so I'm optimistic. And it looks like we might actually be receiving some more fall-like weather (after a week of rain, mugginess, and highs in the 60s), which will no doubt help as well. So stay tuned.

I really think I understand now why most pro athletes retire by the age of 40 (and why someone like the Mets' Julio Franco -- who turned 48 this past August -- is so remarkable). My weary frame is definitely feeling the effects of time, and in a way that it didn't even two or three years ago. What a drag it is getting old, indeed.

Oh, and in the "yikes" department, a bystander was fatally shot in the Rockaway Parkway L train station in Canarsie yesterday afternoon, only a few short hours after I had passed through on my way home from running there. More here.

A bonus photo from the Runs Brooklyn archives:

Church on 65th Street in Dyker Heights

Showing My Quads Who's Boss

2006-11-15T12:39:00.000-05:00

Wednesday 11/15, Run #83: Canarsie

Distance: 9.02 miles
Time: 1:10
Pace: 7:45
Temp: 58
Dewpoint: 52
Weather: overcast

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 6.07
Total Unique Miles: 650.55
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 37.34

For the complete route, click here

Notes: After all the concern and anxiety about my quadriceps that was in evidence here yesterday, how did I respond to my legs' continued pleas for rest this morning? I went out and pounded the concrete sidewalks for a good nine miles, as promised. Ha! That ought to shut 'em up. At least until I pass out from the pain.

Why do I abuse my body like this sometimes? Sure, all runners have a bit of a competitive streak -- we like to record out times and our paces and keep journals and logs, and it is with no small amount of joy that we celebrate a new personal record for a 10K or a marathon or whatever. But why does this desire to keep pushing sometimes end up being so obviously counterproductive and potentially injurious? I mean, I know on a very conscious and pragmatic level that it would be best if I took a few more days off, rested up the quads, and then hit the ground running (so to speak) some time next week. Instead, all I could think about last night was that I hadn't run in two days, and if I didn't run this morning (Wednesday) it'd be three and that was like completely beyond my ability to even consider. Totally out of the question! And so before turning in I dutifully drew my little map and cleared the memory in my camera and set out my running clothes, and this morning I rose at about six (staying home didn't even emerge as a possibility, despite the fact that I limped around the apartment for the first five minutes while making tea) and was on the road -- after the subway trip, of course -- by a little after eight. Go ahead, leave comments telling me how foolish I am! Tell me my long-term health is more important than the short-term accumulation of unique miles! Scold! Castigate! Admonish! Go on, let me have it! For you see, I know these things already, and the real mystery, the truly frustrating aspect, is that I can't seem to heed my own better judgment. And you want to know what else? I'm already thinking about where to go tomorrow!

Whatever. Blah blah quadriceps blah. Today I went out to Canarsie and ran around, systematically filling in all the previously un-run streets south of Flatlands Avenue (which, as you may remember, is the completely arbitrary line which I'm endeavoring to run everything south of before moving on to the next third of the borough. BTW, I'm getting real close -- maybe 4 or 5 more runs). As I've written here every previous time I've ventured down that way, Canarsie's a perfectly fine, primarily middle-class African-American neighborhood with most of its streets thoughtfully laid out on a grid and conveniently accessible via the L train. But because of its almost entirely residential nature (except for some small businesses along a couple of the main roads like Rockaway Parkway and Flatlands Avenue), there really isn't a whole lot of eye-catching photographic temptation. (Whoa -- I just got total déjà vu when I typed that. I must've written that exact same phrase on a previous post or something.) So I did my best to take pictures when things caught my eye, though not much did. And besides, I was too busy pretending my legs didn't hurt.

Alright, today's photos:

Remsen Avenue

Also on Remsen Avenue

I'm not much of a car guy, but even I know Lamborghinis are pretty rare

Part of an elaborate mural on E. 80th Street

Doctor, My Thighs

2006-11-14T13:57:00.000-05:00

Despite a regularly-scheduled break yesterday, I'm not running today, either. It seems that after dealing my quadriceps a devastating (if completely unintentional) one-two punch -- running too fast on Friday and too far on Sunday -- they've decided to essentially go on strike for a couple of days, refusing to function normally and making a big fuss about working conditions. And to be honest, running's just not the same without them. I've got no choice for now but to give in to their demands and let them rest up, at least for now. (The joke's on them, of course -- they'll be back to their usual grueling workload tomorrow. I already have the route mapped out!). But if you're wondering why you're reading this instead of a summary of my journey through some exciting neighborhood, well, now you know. But I'll be back tomorrow, I promise. Unless there's a pouring rain, of course. You know, my quads would just love that...

Since I'm here anyway, I'll take this opportunity to post a couple of recent pictures:

Talk about a niche market (Bay Ridge Avenue)

Mosque on 6th Avenue

Church doors on 67th Street

Groceries, Garages, and Running into the Future

2006-11-12T06:23:00.001-05:00

Sunday 11/12, Run #82: East Flatbush, Flatlands, Bergen Beach

Distance: 10.95 miles
Time: 1:25
Pace: 7:46
Temp: 60
Dewpoint: 58
Weather: cloudy & muggy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 6.95
Total Unique Miles: 644.48
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 36.99

For the complete route, click here

Notes: As astute readers have no doubt already observed, my pace was markedly slower this morning than on my freakishly fleet-footed outing on Friday. Partially, of course, this was by design, since just about every muscle from my waist down was pretty sore (especially my quads, which are usually the stalwart troopers of my musculature) and I didn't want to inflict any additional damage on my balky and occasionally insolent body. But mostly, I suspect, it was an inevitable return to statistical normalcy, a retreat from the rough and tumble frontier of anomolous outliers back to the welcoming and reassuring central countours of the bell-shaped curve. And you know what? It's good to be home.

As for the run itself -- ignore what it says up top about Bergen Beach or Flatlands or whatever, for today I ran into the future! Okay, let me explain: It's true, I remain forever bound to the same time-space continuum we're all stuck in. But I did get to run on a couple of streets that don't quite yet exist. They were on neither the Hagstrom fold-out Brooklyn map (aka the "big map") nor the Google satellite map images (which typically are pretty recent). Anyway, a stretch of what I assume will be part of E. 73rd Street was still in an inchoate state of unpaved-ness, all puddly gravel-and-dirt topography punctuated occasionally by a big yellow bulldozer. Rows of houses -- most of which seemed to be just about complete -- lined the sides (though there were more than a few broken windows), while a short, similarly unformed (and presumably unnamed) cross street connected it to the almost-completed Royce Street (which I had run some time ago). It would seem that this particular part of Bergen Beach is one of the few areas in all of Brooklyn with enough undeveloped land to build whole new streets, and now I can say I was there first. Well, except for all the construction guys and whatever. But you know what I mean.

I also finished up all of Bergen Beach today, so the completion of yet another entire neighborhood is good news, indeed. Unfortunately, it's accompanied by some not-so-good news: Bergen Beach is so far from the closest subway that today's run was my least efficient yet, in terms of covering new ground -- almost four miles today were repeats. On top of that, my legs still hurt. Yes, yes, I know, I've brought this on myself.

So, on that note, it's onward to the cream of a scanty photographic crop, a pictorial harvest rendered withery and stunted by running in a mostly residential corner of the borough featuring block after block of pleasant enough but entirely nondescript houses:

Avenue H

Looking into the future on E. 73rd Street?

Garage on E. 70th Street

Another garage! This one's on E. 46th

Avenue H (this is right next to the grocery, actually)

An Uneventful Run (with Unexpected Speed)

2006-11-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

Friday 11/10, Run #81: Midwood, Marine Park, Flatlands

Distance: 9.38 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 6:57
Temp: 58
Dewpoint: 42
Weather: sunny & windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.84
Total Unique Miles: 637.53
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 36.59

For the complete route, click here

Notes: It's becoming a bit of a pattern. If I have a particularly interesting run on any given day, with much to see and photograph and discuss on these pages, it will more likely than not be followed almost immediately by an outing noteable mostly for its very uneventfulness. This is to be expected, I suppose (some kind of statistical averaging-out principle at work, no doubt), and it's not entirely unwelcome, since visually stimulating and otherwise exciting runs entail more work, more stopping and starting, and often much more complicated routes. So it's with more relief than resignation or regret that after yesterday's run -- replete with dozens of buildings and houses and streetside tableaux just begging to be photographed (not to mention my own appointment with a professionally-wielded lens) -- today's run was much more, well, pedestrian. And that was just fine with me, since I managed to finish up all of Marine Park today. Another neighborhood complete!

That's not to say there was nothing to look at, or that my retinas were somehow rendered useless and inert for sheer want of external stimulation. But I was able to focus more on my running than on taking pictures or whatever. And that's okay with me since this whole project, after all, is ostensibly about running. In fact, without having to stop too often for pictures (and on a morning that was itself picture-perfect, weather-wise), I was able to concentrate a bit on form and efficiency and all that kind of technical thing, and the result was... that I ran a sub-seven minute pace? Yeah, well, I'm not sure I completely believe it, either. I knew I was moving quickly and that I'd turn in a good time, but 6:57? To the best of my ability to figure such things, though, this is what it was, so I'm (ahem) running with it. Whether this was a fluke, a miscalculation somwhere on my part, or real, tangible improvement in my running will probably make itself evident in the next week or so (that is, if I'm able to walk). Stay tuned. I know I will.

I did, of course, stop to snap a quick picture now and then. Here are a few:

E. 31st Street

Barber shop on E. 34th Street

United 93 mural on E. 35th Street

Gas station off Flatbush Avenue

Kings Highway and E. 34th

On Both Sides of the Camera

2006-11-09T15:08:00.000-05:00

Thursday 11/9, Run #80: Bay Ridge, Sunset Park

Distance: 9.89 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:35
Temp: 58
Dewpoint: 50
Weather: mostly sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.11
Total Unique Miles: 629.69
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 36.14

For the complete route, click here

Notes: After a thorough soaking yesterday, the clouds gave way early this morning to bright sun and a northwest wind swept in drier air, making for pleasant (if still unseasonably warm) conditions. Today I concentrated on filling in some streets on the border between Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, a region dominated more than anything by the enormous elevated stretches of roadway where the Belt Parkway (which follows the shore around the west side of Bay Ridge) merges with the Gowanus Expressway (which cuts straight north from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge). It's an interesting area, with some absolutely beautiful residential blocks of brownstone and limestone townhouses, but also with a lot of auto dealerships, car repair places, and small businesses along the avenues. Parts also have a pronounced Arab-American flavor, with mosques and middle-eastern restaurants in evidence there between the Hispanic and Asian-American populations to the north in Sunset Park and the traditionally Italian and Scandinavian enclaves to the south in Bay Ridge.

Although quite a bit of my run today consisted of dodging the cars speeding along the access roads on their way to or from the highways, one of today's highlights was the Veterans Memorial Pier (at the foot of Bay Ridge Avenue), where people were fishing or conversing and there were terrific views of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, lower Manhattan, and some of the ship traffic moving through the Narrows. And near the end of the run, I met up with a photographer from the Borough President's office (it was arranged ahead of time -- it wasn't like I just ran into her or something) who needed to take pictures to accompany an article running in the next issue of the BP's newsletter. It was a bit embarrassing posing for the camera and running in slow-motion several times along the same block (seriously, I get enough strange looks from passers-by already), but it was also kind of fun, and the photographer was great.

Overall it was a decent run, but I'm still hurting quite a bit (the heels, of course, but my ankles have been a little sore lately, too). I might run tomorrow, but I might take another day off and try running both Saturday and Sunday -- it'll all depend on how I feel when I wake up. Anyway, on to today's photos:

Bay Ridge Avenue

Bay Ridge Methodist Church, 4th Avenue

5th Avenue

Veterans Memorial Pier

Bay Ridge Avenue

The merge of the Belt Parkway and the Gowanus Expressway

3rd Avenue

Special "Rainy Days and Wednesdays" Edition

2006-11-08T10:07:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to run today, but given the steady precipitation (and the forecast for more to come), I'm taking my second straight day off. And it's for the best, I think. In retrospect, the gleeful description of my Hermes-like fleet-footedness on Monday was probably a little optimistic (blame it on the endorphins again), and the truth is that I was hurting yesterday. A little rest never hurt a runner, I guess. Anyway, before I dive into the day's dissertating I thought I'd compose a short post of random thoughts and observations that have been accumulating, if only as an excuse to waste a few minutes and share a few leftover photographs. But to save time (yours, dear reader, as well as my own), today's edition will be in a sleek, bullet-pointed, and easy-to-digest, uh, digest format.

Though I don't have strong feelings one way or the other about Lance Armstrong running his first marathon on Sunday, I was a little peeved by all the media attention. Seriously, this guy is a professional distance athlete -- is it so surprising that he'd finish (and with a solid time)? Still, though, anyone who's ever run a marathon had to feel a certain flush of pride and vindication when Lance called the race the "hardest physical thing" he'd ever done. Damn straight it's hard! But then again, that's part of the fun, I suppose.

While perusing Google Maps yesterday, I realized there are substantial areas of Brooklyn -- places like Fort Hamilton and the old Navy Yard -- that have streets but which don't exactly encourage pedestrian interlopers running around and snapping pictures. But I figure I ought to try and run them anyway, so now I've got to get in touch with folks at those places and see what's up. Stay tuned to this blog for further developments.

It's no secret that I'm a big music fan, and that I have a bit of an obsessive streak. So not that anyone cares, but the stuff I've (repeatedly) had on "repeat" on my iTunes this week includes the new (and curiously titled) Yo La Tengo album I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass -- the atmospheric instrumental "Daphnia" is proving to be a great rainy day song even as I type this. I've liked them seemingly forever (I used to go up and see them at Maxwell's quite a bit when I lived in pre-gentrified Jersey City during the late 1980s), and overall this is their best work, in my opinion, since 1997's I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. Also: brilliant (but sadly short-lived) trumpeter Lee Morgan's 1965 album Infinity (with Jackie McLean -- who died earlier this year -- on alto), and Herbert von Karajan's slowly-paced (and maybe a little overwrought) but still powerful recording of Mozart's Requiem. Good stuff.

The photograph I took a week ago of that statue of Jesus and the twin towers of the WTC has taken on a life of its own. As of this morning, it's been viewed over 4000 times on Flickr, or 35 times more often than any of my other photos. Weird.

I'm almost finished with Salman Rushdie's truly remarkable 1981 novel Midnight's Children. Now I know what all the fuss is about (it did receive that meta-Booker prize awarded in 1993, after all). And, for no particular reason, this week I've been re-reading Macbeth, which is always fun. I hadn't read any Shakespeare in a long, long time.

Finally, I voted last night, and for the first time as a New Yorker. It was cool to use one of those hulking old voting machines -- there is something immensely satisfying (in a low-tech kind of way) about pulling that giant lever when you're done and hearing the mechanism clank deep within. (I'd used lever machines before in New Jersey, but from 1996-2004 I voted in Iowa, which uses optical-scanning devices). In keeping with the non-political nature of this blog I won't say who I voted for, but I can't say I'm unhappy with the overall results this morning.

And there you have it. BTW, the image at the top is from this site, which has all kinds of fun ways to waste time and bandwidth. (And a tip of the hat to the always-interesting Gowanus Lounge for the idea). As promised, a few pictures:

Under the elevated subway tracks at Brighton Beach Avenue & Ocean Parkway

Mural in Brighton Beach

Along Nostrand Avenue in Midwood

Seeing Orange

2006-11-06T12:42:00.000-05:00

Monday 11/6, Run #79: Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, Marine Park

Distance: 10.28 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:18
Temp: 42
Dewpoint: 28
Weather: sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.07
Total Unique Miles: 621.59
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 35.67

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Maybe it was the day off yesterday, or the perfect autumnal weather this morning, or perhaps even the lingering excitement from watching the marathon, but I recorded one of my faster runs today (over ten miles in an hour and fifteen minutes). Moreover, it felt great -- sure, my heels are still bothering me, but I felt light and quick, as if running was somehow the most natural activity in the world and I could've kept going indefinitely. I even had enough in reserve that I sprinted the last few blocks. Days like this are rare, of course, so I tried to enjoy it while it lasted.

Most of the route today was in Midwood and the northeast corner of Sheepshead Bay (what some folks refer to as Madison), allowing me to fill in some remaining gaps in the latter neighborhood and move it into the "completed" list. It's pretty encouraging, too, since seeing the "big map" fill up with bright orange ink is gradually (and cautiously) allowing me to think that I might actually pull this whole thing off -- a conceit that I hadn't really indulged until recently. Yeah, I know, I've still got over a thousand miles to go, but still.

Anyway, Midwood has a substantial Jewish population, something that was reflected in many of my photos today. The portions of both Midwood and Sheepshead Bay/Madison I ran today were also mostly residential, with scenic, tree-lined streets (made even more appealing by the touch of fall foliage and the bright sunshine). On a related note (related to Midwood's Jewish community, not the fine weather), I've noticed that a good number of the pictures I take in general on my runs have religious subjects. I certainly don't have any agenda here -- mosques, churches, synagogues, and statuary representing various faiths and sects are all represented (and if I come across a shrine to Ganesh or a Shinto temple or even a fancifully-decorated atheist meeting hall I'd probably take pictures of them, too). It's just that I photograph things that catch my eye (as well as things I'd like to think capture a sense of the place I'm running), and quite often these things have a religious theme or subtext. Brooklyn, as often suggested, is indeed a city of distinct neighborhoods, often comprised of very specific religious or ethnic communities. It's one of the things I like best about the borough (though gentrification is certainly taking its toll in some areas).

Oh, and tomorrow's Election Day, so if you don't do anything else, please go out and vote. In the meantime, however, here are today's photos:

In a tiny yard outside a building on Kings Highway

One of the many Art Deco apartment buildings along Kings Highway

Along Nostrand Avenue in Midwood

Parking lot on Nostrand Avenue

Restaurant on Avenue N

Also on Nostrand Avenue

Bonus Marathon Spectator Edition

2006-11-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

Today was the New York City Marathon, and I'd indeed be a lousy New Yorker (and a worse runner) if I didn't at least try to throw together a quick post in its honor. I've run seven marathons myself (all between 1999 and 2005) but I'd never watched one as a spectator before, and it was really a lot of fun. Kate and I stood outside on Manhattan Avenue for almost two hours, shouting ourselves hoarse (and clapping until our hands were numb) as a seemingly endless tide of runners surged north toward Queens. As it turns out, a good number of participants have their name (and sometimes, nationality) prominently displayed on their shirts, so it was easy enough to single folks out and offer some personalized encouragement. In fact, although I had my camera with me, it stayed in my pocket most of the time as I focused my energies instead on watching and hollering.

Yes, it was pretty cool to watch the elite runners speed by (the women first, since they had an earlier starting time), and yes, we saw Lance Armstrong (and his sizeable entourage of charity runners). Personally, though, the high point for me was actually getting to meet -- if only for a moment, and a half-hour apart -- two individuals who I know through comments or emails related to this blog. Linda (from the Detroit area) and Michael (a fellow Brooklynite) both finished easily, with the former actually coming in among the top 200 women with a time around 3:15. Wow. Congratulations -- it was great meeting both of you, and I look forward to hearing all about your experiences (after a proper recovery, of course). (I was also pleasantly surprised that so many passing runners responded to my Iowa sweatshirt, though after the Hawkeyes' ignominious home loss to Big 10 doormat Northwestern yesterday, I may have felt just a little twinge of self-consciousness). All the excitement made me wish I was running the marathon myself, but then again, I suppose my running-related dance card is full enough without all the additional training. Next year, though, is a different story...

I won't go into any more detail, since I want to warm up a bit and the race enjoys so much media coverage here anyway. But if you really want more information, try these links:

New York Marathon official website
New York Times marathon coverage

Finally, here are a few photos. Keep in mind, though, that most of my photographic experience has been in shooting stationary objects, not moving ones! In any event, I'll probably return to my regularly-scheduled running tomorrow. Hope to see you then.

Two of the elite women (I think that's Claudia Camargo on the right)

Just before the lead male runners emerged onto Manhattan Avenue

Carlos Carballo (who finished 27th) and Kassahun Kabiso (18th)

The view from the Runs Brooklyn headquarters, at about 1:00

Alley Art and Mother Jones

2006-11-04T13:48:00.000-05:00

Saturday 11/4, Run #78: Brighton Beach

Distance: 10.74 miles
Time: 1:20
Pace: 7:27
Temp: 38
Dewpoint: 24
Weather: sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.38
Total Unique Miles: 613.51
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 35.21

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Whoa. Today's run was the most complicated I've done so far, even more so than my previous outing to Brighton Beach a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the route was so complex that the little reference map I make was twice as big as usual, in order to have enough space to draw in all the tiny streets and alleys I needed to cover. (If the interactive map above doesn't provide enough of an illustration, get a load of the written description of the route. Seriously, it was awfully confusing -- not only were there seemingly dozens of turns and lots of retracing my steps, but almost all the streets were called "Brighton" something or other).

Why so complicated? Partly because Brighton Beach occupies a tiny little patch of Brooklyn just east of Coney Island, an area of roughly half a square mile (or less than 300 acres). Yet over 30,000 people live there, giving it a population density of roughly 60,000/square mile -- a good 50% higher than the rest of the borough (in which about 2.8 million people live in 71 square miles), and pretty close to the density of Manhattan (which, as of the 2000 census, was around 67,000/square mile). And while much of this density comes from the apartment buildings and condos close to the boardwalk, there are plenty of detached and semi-detached houses as well, and the only way to fit them all in is to make the streets narrow and very close together. In fact, in order to maximize the number of houses on some blocks (especially between Ocean View and Neptune Avenues), there are a number of pedestrian alleys, which I always enjoy discovering (but which pretty much added to my general sense of disorientation). The houses that fronted the alleys, insulated as they are from public view by virtue of their distance from vehicular traffic, represented a remarkable array of styles (and varying degrees of upkeep). The alleys were also the source of some ever-welcome weirdness, including one yard along Brighton 3rd Place with a number of odd and unique art installations (a picture of one is included below).

Another interesting discovery was an apartment building on Brighton 3rd Street bearing the name "Mother Jones." This is presumably an homage to Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1830-1930), the famous union organizer and labor agitator and the only woman among the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905. (Her legacy is also evident through the eponymous magazine known for its lefty muckraking.) Some cursory googling didn't turn up anything about the building, but considering the neighborhood's long history as a destination for eastern European Jewish immigrants (many of whom were involved in socialist causes during the first half of the twentieth century), it certainly seems plausible enough.

[Interesting demographic aside: in the Wikipedia article on Brighton Beach (as well as other online sources), the population is given as 150,000, which is clearly wrong. Not only would it be close to physically impossible to squeeze that many people into that small a space, but the entire population of Community District 13 -- which comprises all of Brighton Beach, Coney Island, and parts of Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend -- was only 106,000 according to the 2000 census. (I got my figure of a little over 30,000 by adding up the individual populations of the seven census tracts within Brighton Beach, a trapezoid bounded by Ocean Parkway, West End Avenue, the boardwalk, and the Belt Parkway).]

Okay, enough with the geography and demography. Today's was indeed a labyrinthine run (and one I'd been long dreading, due to the commensurate complexity of the recordkeeping), but I also really enjoyed it. It was cool this morning but dry and sunny, and taking yesterday off helped my heels and legs to feel a bit better. Moreover, I can now move Brighton Beach onto the "completed" side of my running ledger, bringing me that much closer to having the entire southern third all wrapped up.

And as almost every runner (and New Yorker) knows, tomorrow's the New York Marathon (almost half of which, by the way, takes place in Brooklyn). Maybe I'll apply next year (my last marathon was Quad Cities, a little over a year ago), but for now I'm looking forward to spectating instead of participating. Best of luck to all the runners, and especially those of you whom I've gotten to know through this blog!

Finally, despite all the squinting at my little map so I wouldn't deviate too far from my convoluted route today, I managed to snap some photos. A sampling:

Banner Ave and Brighton 8th Street

Brighton 12th Street

Brighton Beach Avenue

Evidence of Brighton Beach's Wobbly past? (Brighton 3rd St.)

Uh, is the water supposed to be this color? (Brighton Beach Ave)

Yard art on the alley part of Brighton 3rd Place

Brighton 11th Street

Mural on Brighton 2nd Street

Finding the Friendly Firehouse of Flatlands

2006-11-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

Thursday 11/2, Run #77: Marine Park & Flatlands

Distance: 10.65 miles
Time: 1:20
Pace: 7:31
Temp: 46
Dewpoint: 40
Weather: overcast

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.71
Total Unique Miles: 606.13
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 34.79

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Another kind of average run today, mostly picking up a number of residential streets that I need to finish up Flatlands. There were a lot of repeated miles, too, though most of these were due to the fact that no subways run into this part of the borough and there are only so many routes to and from the nearest stations. It was raining when I got up (around 5:00), but it had mostly cleared out by the time I started running around 8:30 -- and, as these things happen, the sun peeked out as I walked the block home from the train.

Though today's run was nothing particularly special, I can't help but express a little surprise at the interest generated by a photo from yesterday's venture down to Dyker Heights. The fine local news blog Gothamist ran the picture of the Jesus and the twin towers statue (taken outside St. Ephrem's Church) at the end of the day yesterday, and it has, as of 11:45 this morning, resulted in the photo being viewed 274 times on my Flickr page. To put this in perspective, most of my pictures have been viewed between 3 and 15 times, and the previous high was 104 (for a shot of Loew's Kings Theater in Flatbush that Brownstoner ran a while back). I'm not sure whether the 274 hits in less than a day is a tribute to the popularity of Gothamist, the religiosity of New Yorkers, the inherent strangeness of the statute itself, or maybe some combination. Regardless, it's still kind of fun to have people take such an interest in one of my photos.

I'll be taking tomorrow off, coming back with a longish (~11 mile) run on Saturday that should hopefully wrap up Brighton Beach for me, and then I'll be taking Sunday off to watch the runners as they make their way right through Greenpoint and right by my building. I'll try to take some pictures. And, of course, speaking of pictures, here are today's:

Firehouse on E. 48th Street

Mary Queen of Heaven School, E. 57th Street

House on Avenue I

Garage on E. 52nd Street

Avenue O

If I Was President: Fewer Cars, More Bakeries

2006-11-01T11:58:00.001-05:00

Wednesday 11/1, Run #76: Dyker Heights

Distance: 10.08 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:26
Temp: 60
Dewpoint: 52
Weather: mostly sunny

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 8.96
Total Unique Miles: 598.43
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 34.35

For the complete route, click here

Notes: It was a beautiful morning here in Brooklyn (even if it was a bit warm for my tastes), as some remaining cloud cover from overnight cleared out and left bright sunshine. And my run today was excellent, too -- everything felt good from the start, and I covered just over ten miles at a pretty solid clip despite the hillier-than-usual terrain. Dyker Heights, like its neighboring communities (Sunset Park to the north, Bay Ridge to the west, Bensonhurst to the east) is a great place to run, with a nice mix of small businesses along the avenues (which run more or less north and south) and residential areas (including some beautiful townhouses) on the tree-lined east-west streets. Of particular note was a statue ouside St. Ephrem's church, depicting Jesus cradling the twin towers of the World Trade Center. September 11th-related murals and memorials are quite commonplace around the borough (understandably, of course), and the image of the two iconic buildings figures prominently in many of them. Still, I hadn't seen anything quite like this before.

The run today filled up enough of the neighborhood that I can finish it entirely with one more trip down there, and after looking at the "big map" today it looks like I'm getting close to being done with everything south of the 65th/Avenue P/Flatlands Avenue line I drew a couple of months ago. All I need, I think, is one more run in each of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, Marine Park, Canarsie, Bergen Beach, and East New York, and maybe two more in Flatlands. Plus, I'll have to take the train out to Rockaway and run back over the Marine Parkway Bridge, since half of it's in Brooklyn (this run will also give me the opportunity to poke around Floyd Bennett Field, too). But I'm heading to Flatlands and Brighton Beach this week, and it appears that I might be done with the southern third or so of the entire borough within two weeks. Crazy! Of course, this means that I'll have to come up with some kind of plan for what to do next, but I've still got a little time, I suppose.

Anyway, lots to see today, including some bright autumnal foliage, which I haven't seen a lot of around here this fall. Henceforth, photographs:

I'm always drawn to bakeries. This one's on Fort Hamilton Parkway

13th Avenue

Outside St. Ephrem's Church on Bay Ridge Parkway

Some autumn color on 70th Street

Mosaics high up on a 65th Street church school

Run-of-the-Mill Running

2006-10-30T11:08:00.000-05:00

Monday 10/30, Run #75: Canarsie

Distance: 8.63 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:32
Temp: 44
Dewpoint: 28
Weather: sunny & breezy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.10
Total Unique Miles: 589.47
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 33.83

For the complete route, click here

Notes: After yesterday's unusually enjoyable trek through Sea Gate I suppose it was inevitable that today's run would be more quotidian. And it was, too -- except for the fact that the weather was especially pleasant this morning (it was breezy, but nearly as windy as yesterday), there was nothing much memorable about it. My route took me through an almost entirely residential portion of Canarsie (a neigborhood I've visited numerous times before, and which I'm probably only two runs from finishing up), and thanks to the return to Standard Time, I was able to head out earlier than I've been running lately, meaning the streets were even quieter. I even had a tough time finding interesting things to photograph, and the three pictures below are the best I have to offer today.

I suppose I shouldn't complain too loudly, though, when the worst thing I can say about a run is that it was pretty average and that nothing much happened. In any event, I'm probably going to take tomorrow and Friday off, run Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and then take a rare running holiday on Sunday, so I can watch the real runners -- the marathon course goes right past my building, so I'm quite excited. Without further ado, today's photos:

Avenue L

87th Street

After losing this many letters it's probably time for a new sign (Avenue L)

Surprising Sea Gate

2006-10-29T15:33:00.000-05:00

Sunday 10/29, Run #74: Coney Island and Sea Gate

Distance: 10.24 miles
Time: 1:20
Pace: 7:49
Temp: 46
Dewpoint: 24
Weather: sunny & very windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 6.72
Total Unique Miles: 582.36
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 33.42

For the complete route, click here

Notes: The one constant in all my runs thus far has been the ability of Brooklyn to surprise me at almost every turn with the unexpected, the unusual, or the just plain weird. Thankfully, most of these surprises have been good ones, and today's run was one of the best. That's because I headed out to Sea Gate, the small gated neighborhood at Coney Island's western tip.

Because it seems to operate more or less independently from the rest of the borough, I'd put off running there for months, figuring it would be something of a hassle. But with the rest of southern Brooklyn filling up on my "big map," I decided it was finally time. And so, on what will probably go down as the windiest day of the year, I made my way down there.

I had imagined the area as some kind of super-luxe spot with lots of enormous newly-constructed mansions (kind of like parts of Manhattan Beach, on Coney Island's other end), but what I found was an unassuming and almost cozy neighborhood with a tangible sense of place. There was enormous architectural diversity, with houses of dozens of different styles and sizes next to one another, but no commercial buildings as far as I could tell. It wasn't completely residential, though, as I also saw a few modest synagogues, and, at the westernmost end, Norton's Point lighthouse -- apparently, the last manned lighthouse on the east coast, until its former keeper died in 2003. The whole neighborhood is surrounded by water except on its eastern border, of course, and though much of the beachfront belongs to individual property owners there was some public access as well (with excellent views of the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge). And the place has quite a colorful history, too -- from hideout for famous gamblers, gangsters, and even discraced politicos (it's where Thomas Nast nemesis and Tammany Hall boss William Tweed laid low after he escaped from a Manhattan jail in 1871) to at least part-time home to figures as diverse as Woody Guthrie, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Beverly Sills, and even Soupy Sales. The entire place seemed pleasant and mostly quiet, and had -- no doubt due to its geographical situation (and the fact that I visited early on a Sunday morning) -- remarkably little vehicular traffic. I even saw one or two other runners!

All told it was a great run (despite the wind, which did its best to provide me with a natural dermabrasion via violently blowing sand on the boardwalk on the way down there). Though it's a small and entirely residential neighborhood, Sea Gate was yet another surprise in a borough that's teeming with them. Finally, I need to give a shout out to Sergeant Walsh of the SGPD, who was helpful, friendly, and filled me in with some background on the neighborhood and its history -- including which house used to be the hotel where Al Capone stayed. Thanks!

And almost lost among all of this is the fact that I hit a milestone of sorts: I went over the one-third mark for running all of Brooklyn. BTW, the number 33 1/3 reminds me of the antique musical medium of vinyl long-playing records (completely pointless trivia: the first LP I bought was Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, in 1977; the last was Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, in 1988 -- after that it was all CDs until a year or two ago, and now I get most of my music via download or from the library). Also, Sea Gate and Coney Island are now complete -- two more neighborhoods down!

For more on Sea Gate, check out this article from the Voice, this slightly older one from the Times, or consult your local library. Otherwise, a few pictures from this morning:

Wind-driven sand on the Coney Island boardwalk

The view from Norton's Point

This was in someone's front yard (though I don't recall the exact street)

Norton's Point Lighthouse, between Beach 47th and Beach 48th Streets

Not the NY Public Library (Mermaid Avenue)

At the end of Lyme Avenue

Former hotel on Atlantic Ave, reputedly where Al Capone stayed