Sights Along 116th

Lots going on in these stickers.

Crane between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd, and Frederick Douglass Blvd.  The construction has covered up this mural. 

Discarded whiteboard art at Manhattan Ave.

New coffee cart at Frederick Douglass Blvd.

A few things I saw when walking along 116th Street last week. 

I moved to Harlem four years ago last Wednesday.  Four years ago there was a grumpy guy selling newspapers on my corner, but only when the weather was nice.  That first Spring a coffee cart arrived.  The fair weather paper guy was replaced by a fair weather paper woman.  At least she was friendly.  She lasted about a year, when she was succeeded by a friendly, all-weather paper guy.  The paper guy and the coffee cart were soon joined by a produce cart.

Except for the first day one of the free dailies was published we haven't been able to get AM NY or Metro NY. That's not a great loss.  The Village Voice, the Observer, the Press, and the Onion are nowhere to be found in Harlem.  If I want them I have to go over to Morningside Heights or down to the Upper West Side.

When I moved to the neighborhood a guy would sell papers at the corner of Frederick Douglass Blvd, near the coffee cart in the photo.  He would only sell papers a couple of times a week and his appearance schedule was not correlated with the weather.  He disappeared after a couple of months.

Last week at that corner a new coffee cart appeared.  They were a bit disorganized (no juice, cold drinks were warm, gave me the wrong doughnut), but very friendly and enthusiastic ("Everything fresh!").  It will be interesting to see if they show up tomorrow morning.  I may have to get a doughnut for positive reinforcement!

Comments

[Marie]

I don't really have anything to say, except I'm impressed there's a street called "Frederick Douglass," and how the streets are a history lesson.

[joe]

Yes, north of Central Park 6th, 7th and 8th Avenues have been renamed Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell, and Frederick Douglass Boulevards, respectively.

To complicate matters, before it was renamed Malcolm X Blvd, 6th Avenue was renamed Lenox Ave. after James Lenox, whose private library was eventually combined with John Jacob Astor's library to form the New York Public Library. Most people still call the street Lenox Ave.

There is yet another complication, but I forgot to take photos today so that it can be explained!

[the crossfader]

uptown's great.

[j Ro]

I've been on 117th and Fredrick Douglas for two years, and the only coffee/donut cart I've seen has been on Lenox and 116th next to Conway and the 2/3 stop. When was this coffee cart pic taken?

[Joe]

The coffee cart appeared two weeks ago. This week they moved slightly to the 116th side of the corner. And, cold drinks are now cold.