Alternate Street Parking

How many times have I run up and down the 2.5 mile boardwalk? Lots

The Parachute jump which has not been operational for at least 60 years. Steve's mom was hoisted via pulleys to the top and then allowed to fall saved at the last second. In the 80s, I was afraid to run west of it as the area was crime infested

view from the pier

mural outside of the aquarium with the top of the cyclone peaking up

Used to have a huge rocket on top of this building full of grungy Coney Island treats

Aquarium mural message: plastics in the sea are deadly to fish

Creepy Steeplechase guy head is all over

Steve lived in Trump Village, the high rises to the right. The Cyclone seemed to be right below his window

So far Blogger is behaving itself today but it still needs to keep up with all of iPhone's many updates. On Tuesday morning, we drove through torrential rain in NJ. Fortunately it stopped by the time we crossed over to NYC. We saw the least amount of traffic ever. Crossing the Verrazano Bridge is free heading east but very pricy going east so we leave going  the free way through Manhattan. We have an EZ pass from Ohio that gives us discounts, especially in Ohio just to come into NY though handy for going to DC too. Not good at all on the West coast.

Parking is at a premium on the city streets. Making things worse is that they street clean twice a week so you have to plan your parking carefully. During the 1.5 hour street cleaning sessions, one can find no parking though double parking seems to be tolerated on the 'good' side. Where else is double parking tolerated? Last year, we found a spot good for most of our stay. Steve refused to leave it which was very annoying. He had his brother drive us everywhere. I convinced him twice to leave our spot which he did with much complaining. On our last day he refused so I had to run in the neighborhood dealing with aggressive drivers on cross streets though the path along Ocean Parkway is smooth and pretty.

We got into the city around noon. I thought I smelled gas as I entered the apartment but who knows, someone could be cooking cruciferous vegetables. My sister-in-law smelled this for 2 months and complained to the landlady who sent a plumber to investigate. No leak he said though he didn't have a detector, just an old man's nose, which turns out to be very unreliable. No one else could smell this gas until I came. She called the gas company who quickly sent someone out with detectors. Yep there is a leak but someone else would need to fix it applying for permits, getting inspections, a lengthy process. At first they shut off the gas to everyone in the building but then decided only to target my in-laws. It is much warmer in NYC than in Michigan so they keep the windows open saving their lives as it turned out. They use the gas for heat, the stove and oven and the hot water heater. And eventually it will get cold there too. Hard to take cold showers though an alternate shower spot was offered. A huge process to get this fixed with lots of red tape. I felt bad.

New York is full of tasty ethnic restaurants, NOT good for my plan on top of exercising less. Lunch at a deli; Middle Eastern for dinner. I picked up a very fancy mushroom pie at a Russian bakery the next morning. Another day, roast pork dumplings at a third of the price they would be any place else. Italian one night with his cousin and wife. Steve's favorite Italian restaurant has closed but we found this to be a suitable substitute. And Italian baked goods. I had a mini baba au rhum. We brought back lobster tails (Italian pastry, not the crustacean) and rainbow cookies. Another night my sister-in-law made a delicious dinner despite having no gas. In the meantime, she bought some electrical devices so they can at least cook something besides microwave. And per usual, too much wine for me especially in the Italian restaurant where I discovered I was the only drinker out of 6 after ordering.

We were lucky with the weather as it much less rainy than predicted. A bit of drizzle one day but it was warm. The first morning we walked along the boardwalk near Steve's old apartment and then in the very heavy Russian Brighton Beach Avenue. How the stores have changed! Cyrillic alphabet has replaced Hebrew. In the afternoon, my sister-in-law took me to Prospect Park to run. Very pretty with a bit of fall colors. Also hillier than I am used to but practically flat compared to my run in Pennsylvania.
More in the next day or two