NY Mysteries June 27,2020

 

Stuyvesant Town

Venturing Out

Stuyvesant Town and its rich cousin, Peter Cooper, have never looked better. The 80 acres are decked with deep blue, creamy white, and delicate purple hydrangeas. They have no scent. The Oval lawn is robust, green and has the scent of childhood walks in forests. Gardners, is there anything more difficult than tending a lawn? Our lawn is dotted with white Adirondeck chairs. Why does summer flood me with happy Indiana childhood memories? 

Since March I’ve gotten to know StuyTown better from daily walks under the plane trees.

In the past few weeks I’ve ventured out. Time spent in Washington Square Park, immediately north of Judson Memorial Church, walks in Battery Park to visit the Merchant Marine memorial and to take the Staten Island ferry, walks along the Hudson. Lately, I’ve taken the subway to Brooklyn to attend a friend’s birthday. This week a friend and I went in search of her Green-Wood burial site. It was a sizzling hot day so we stayed for about two hours before rushing into the dark ,clean, air -conditioned R train.

Yesterday I descended into the L’s snazzy new Ave. A and 14th Street station, changed to the G and joined a friend at Bergen and Smith for an outdoor supper in one of our favorite French restaurants. I put ice cubes in my red wine even in a French restaurant.

Father’s Day


My father worked as a newspaperman on the New Orleans Time Picayne. He moved to NYC and worked for Dorothy Day. When World War II began he wanted to support his country but didn’t want to bare arms. He joined the Merchant Marine. His ship, the SS Pew, was torpedoed in  1943. He died at 38. 

In 1991 Marisol Escobar sculpted a moving tribute to these brave men.  The sculpture is off of Bowling Green in the Upper New York Bay. Three seamen are facing death and terrified. A fourth man is drowning in the water. He drowns twice a day. One of his mates extends his hand to him. 

The United States Merchant Mariner suffered more casualties than any other American service during World War II,

  NY Mysteries June 12, 2020

Jean Ovitt’s photos

It’s been another what a week. I had taken some photos of spring flowers in Stuyvesant Park. Instead, I’ll share with you Jean Ovitt’s photos

The following words are Jeans’s: 

I believe the bible verse is John 15:18-19 (King James) 

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

“our necks are under persecution: we labour and have no rest” is from Lamentations 

5:5.