Category: Wanderers (Page 4 of 5)

2019 April Wandering

On Tuesday April 16, David Mace will lead our April Wandering.

The Wanderers will take the train on Tuesday morning to Grand Central Terminal — the 8:36 AM train from the Darien station, which is the 8:39 AM from Noroton Heights. Upon arrival, we all shall meet at the Upper Level Information Booth at GCT. Please bring your MetroCard for the subway or select the  MetroCard included” option when you purchase your train tickets from the machines on the train station platforms.

We shall go by Subway to the Delancey Street neighborhood of lower Manhattan and from there stroll over the East River via the Williamsburg Bridge to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The tour will proceed past the historic Peter Lugar’s Restaurant and the architecturally acclaimed historic main branch of the Williamsburg Savings Bank, through a portion of Brooklyn’s Hasidic ethnic neighborhood, and past the northern part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard that has been converted into Steiner Studios, the largest motion picture lot outside of Hollywood. Lunch will be at an Italian Restaurant on the riverbank, with broad vistas of lower Manhattan. Then we shall return by ferry to the Wall Street Ferry Terminal,
and thence, via subway, back to Grand Central. We expect to return about 4:00 PM on the MetroNorth train then leaving Grand Central for Darien.

Happy Wanderers schedule walk of Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, March 19, 2019

On Tuesday, March 19, The Happy Wanderers will be exploring the area south of City Hall all the way to Bowling Green on the southern tip of Manhattan. This area constitutes the historic core of the colonial city as well as the financial district and has about 40 landmark sites.

Our meandering will take us past at least 15 of these sites including the US Customs House, Fraunces Tavern, Federal Hall,  NYStock Exchange, Trinity Church, St. Paul’s Chapel, Woolworth building, 9/11 Memorial and the Oculus.

If you are interested in joining this first Wandering of 2019 on Tuesday March 19, board the 8.36am train out of Darien or the 8.39am from Noroton Heights bound for Grand Central. On arrival, congregate at the information booth in the center of the Great Hall. From there we will take the subway downtown to begin our exploration. We expect to walk about 4-5 miles, punctuated by the 11 am libation break at the historic Fraunces Tavern and lunch near the 9/11 Memorial. We expect to take the train back to Darien around 3-30 pm.

Contact : Sunil Saksena, 203-561-8601; ssaksena44@gmail.com

Happy Wanderers Lower East Side Wandering is on for Tuesday
November 27, 2018

The Wanderers will be exploring the Lower East Side of New York City on
Tuesday, November 27, 2018. Included in this wandering will be libations
at the dive Bar Milano’s, a tour of the Tenement Museum and Lunch at
Katz Delicatessen.Its expected to be a windy and chilly day so be warmly
attired.
Board the 8.36 am train to Grand Central from Darien or the 8.39 am train
from Noroton Heights.Upon arrival at Grand Central, congregate at the
Information booth in the center of its Great Hall.
Contact: Sunil Saksena, 203-561-8601 ssaksena44@gmail.com

This year saw the re-emergence of water transportation on the East River linking Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens.

We thought it would be interesting to retrace the history of water ferries by picking one of the more vibrant destinations known as Brooklyn’s DUMBO for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass.

To start out, we will take the train leaving Darien at 8:35 a.m. and Noroton at 8:38 a.m. and gather at the Grand Central Station Information Booth on the upper level.

From there, we will take the Lexington Avenue subway to 34th St. and walk east to the 34th St. ferry terminal to purchase tickets for the East River route, boarding either the 10 a.m. or 10:40 a.m. ferry to DUMBO.

We will then proceed to the Fulton ferry landing and go to the Brooklyn Historical Society Museum to watch an eight-minute film on the history of the area. Our wandering will include a beverage stop and later lunch at the Sugarcane raw bar.

For the return trip, there are ferries at 2:29 p.m. and 2:59 p.m. going back to the 34th St. ferry terminal, where we will retrace our steps to Grand Central in time for the 4:08 p.m. or 4:33 p.m. train home.

Contact: Mark Shakley, cell 203.945.9624, mshakley@aol.com

Taylor Strubinger reports that on Tuesday, June 19, the Happy Wanderers will visit the area west of Lincoln Center.

After a short refreshment, we will continue in our effort to walk the entire Hudson River Greenway one section at a time.

This Tuesday, we will walk the Greenway from W. 74th Street to W. 34th Street.

Previously, we walked the Highline portion of the Greenway that runs from W. 34th Street to W. 12th Street.

We will be on the 8:36 a.m. train out of Darien and the 8:39 a.m. from Noroton. We will gather at the Information Booth in Grand Central Station before starting off.

Come join us.

John Barston reports that David Mace will lead a wandering in Jackson Heights on Tuesday, May 15, that begins at 52nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue and ends at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The walk is approximately 4½ miles.

For a shorter walk, there are subway stops along the way to go back to Grand Central Station.

There are 138 languages spoken here. We will start in an Irish neighborhood. Then we will pass through Korean, Thai, Tibetan, Indian, Ecuadorean and Colombian neighborhoods.

The shops are all family owned – no Gap or Polo stores. The sights, sounds and smells are what will make this wandering exciting.

Join us on the 8:36 a.m. train out of Darien or the 8:39 a.m. out of Noroton Heights.

Harlem Wandering, Tuesday April 17, 2018

Board the 8.58am train from Darien or the 9.02 am train from Noroton. Get off at the Harlem/125 th St Station and remain on the platform where we will congregate before we head down to street level to begin our wandering. ( Do not  head to Grand Central station).

No rain is presently forecast for Tuesday. Should this change, necessitating a postponement of our wandering, an email will go out Monday night/Tuesday morning.

Our wandering will cover the following areas:

–Mt Morris Park Historic Residential district, 120th St  environs.

— A loop from 120th St to 140 th St, Between Lenox Ave and Frederick Douglas Blvd

–Libation stop at Corner Social on Lenox around 11am

–135 th St –the birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s to the 1930s. This period saw a burst of creative energy in Black literature, art, dance and music (Jazz)

–Visiting Harlem Hospital’s Famous WPA murals, Cotton Club and site of Savoy Ballroom

–Abyssianian Baptist Church

–Townhouses on Strivers Row

— Bill’s Place where Billie Holliday was “discovered”

–Shriner’s Music Venue, hippest music spot in Harlem today

–Lafayette Theater where the first Shakespeare play with an all black cast was performed

–Theresa Hotel

–Apollo Theater

Lunch around 1 pm at Sylvia’s “Queen of Soul Food” Restaurant at Lenox Ave  Menu:  http://sylviasrestaurant.com/menus/

Train back to Darien around 3 pm

Photo courtesy of Harvey Mogensen

Happy Wanderers Staten Island
Joe Spain will lead the Happy Wanderers on their kick off trip this season on Tuesday, March 20 with a trip to Staten Island. Plans are to take the subway from Grand Central Station to the ferry terminal at the tip of Manhattan and then across the
lower harbor to New York’s southernmost borough. The walk will include a tour of several historic districts and a ride on the Islands transit system.

Report on Happy Wandering to Staten Island

Following is a report by Joe Spain about the Happy Wanderers’ trip to Staten Island this past Tuesday that he had planned to deliver at our Wednesday meeting. This account also may be of interest to any member who has never been on a wandering. Tuesday, we boarded the 8:36 a.m. train from Darien. David Mace and Sunil Saksena jumped on at Norton Heights a few minutes later. At Grand Central, we checked at the Information Booth for others who might have been on other cars of our train or who had come to Grand Central to rendezvous with us. No one else appeared so we took the Lexington Avenue Express downtown to Bowling Green and walked a block to the ferry terminal. We boarded the 10:30 a.m. ferry, the Samuel I. Newhouse, and were strolling out of the St. George Terminal on Staten Island at about 11 a.m. We walked south toward the Government Center District, noting that several statues were there, including one of General Barrett in the Barrett Triangle. We passed by Borough Hall and the Richmond County Court House. We took our libation break at Steiny’s Pub on Hyatt Street. From there, we walked the historic St. George’s, St. John’s Avenue and Stapleton districts. Our walk was punctuated by the arrival of spring at 12:15 p.m. and ended at the Stapleton station of the Staten Island Railway, where, given the blustery weather, we decided to choose a restaurant close to that rail line for our luncheon stop. We proceeded by rail to the southern tip of the Island, along the Arthur Kill Channel that runs between Staten Island and New Jersey. We had a fine Italian meal at Angelina’s. After lunch, we observed the local vistas, including the Outerbridge Crossing over the channel. We then boarded the railway for our trip back north and right into the St. George Terminal. We took the next ferry and were graced with the photography services of a most pleasant European acupuncturist, who took our photo along the starboard side of the Andrew J. Barbieri, with, we hoped, Lady Liberty in the background. Back in Manhattan, we boarded the Lexington Avenue subway for Grand Central and were able to make the 5:34 p.m. train for Noroton Heights and Darien. As a side point, I should mention that the two ferries we took, while not close to being full, are the two largest in the city’s fleet. Moreover, these two ferries, of 1981 vintage, are the two largest passenger-capacity vessels in the world, each capable of carrying 6,000 people.

Taylor Strubinger reports that the Happy Wanderers will explore Central Park on Tuesday, October 17, 2017.

We will be taking the 8:36 a.m. train from Darien and the same train from Noroton Heights at 8:39 a.m. We usually board at the front end of the train.

Everyone will gather briefly at the Information Booth underneath the clock in Grand Central Station before starting off.

The wandering will begin at West 72nd Street and Central Park West. Entering the park, we will pass the Strawberry Fields and the Sheep Meadow.

We also will see the Bethesda Fountain and the Bow Bridge. Other stops will include the puppet theater, the Shakespeare garden and the Great Lawn.

Lunch will be at a chosen location on Amsterdam Avenue or Columbus Avenue.

For questions, text, phone or email Taylor Strubinger (203) 952-6423, tstrubinger@snet.net.