I thought it would be fun to write about the block with one of the coolest things in lower Manhattan: the firehouse they used in Ghostbusters. Unfortunately, not only was there scaffolding on it, but it was covering pretty much the whole building:
Hey, I finally found a block in Manhattan with construction on it. My long search is over. Seriously though, in the case of a firehouse I just hope everything gets fixed up and they get the best building possible.
The firehouse is Hook and Ladder Company 8, and the sidewalk in front has two Ghostbusters-inspired illustrations. Here’s one:
And the other:
Pretty cool, even under all the scaffolding.
The fire hydrant on the corner also has a nice touch to it:
I remembered there being a plaque on the building that might have been Ghostbusters-related, though I’m not certain about that. Anyway there definitely was a plaque and now there’s just a trace of it:
Not sure why it's not there.
I didn’t remember beforehand what else was on this block but I figured there must be a cafe or shop of some kind that I could also check out. However, the rest of this small street is really only apartment buildings. Here’s a look at the side of the block without the firehouse on it:
And here’s a shot of the intersection of North Moore and West Broadway taken from West Broadway:
The block on West Broadway that it intersects with has some nice local stores, including a few eateries (I’ve never written the word “eateries” before and I’ve certainly never said it out loud), a bar or two and a clothing shop on the corner. Here is part of that street:
But enough about that block and back to ours.
After looking at the firehouse for a few minutes I barely spotted a memorial street sign over the sidewalk scaffolding that says “Lieutenant Vincent G. Halloran Street.”
I wish there was a plaque there saying a bit about Lieutenant Halloran. I see memorial street names throughout Manhattan, which is great, but it would be even better if they all had accompanying plaques saying a little about the person. That way each person could be remembered and appreciated more thoroughly and with more understanding of who they were. But the memorial street signs are certainly a nice gesture in themselves.
Later at home I searched online and learned from the site linked to below that Lieutenant Vincent Gerard Halloran died on duty on September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center, where he was leading an effort to evacuate the North Tower. He had five kids and his wife was pregnant with another when he died. Here’s the link:
http://www.legacy.com/sept11/story.aspx?personid=128619
After learning about a heroic man like Lieutenant Halloran, it really puts the Ghostbusters sightseeing and scaffolding and lots of life’s trivialities in perspective. I think it’s still okay to want to see the building from Ghostbusters, but the first association of the building should be with Lieutenant Vincent G. Halloran and all the firefighters from Hook and Ladder Company 8 past, present, and future, who risk their lives for us all.
I know, it’s called Gay Street, haha. Grow up… poophead.
This street is in the West Village and is small and very pleasant, though I probably would have enjoyed my visit more if the weather was nicer. Unfortunately it was cold as a bastard, and if you watch Game of Thrones then you know how cold that can be.
On the corner of Gay and Christopher is Dominique Bistro, which seemed like a nice place though I didn’t go in. Slightly too upscale for me. I’m a man of the people, after all. In other words, I couldn’t afford to eat there unless someone else was buying.
You can see the A rating for cleanliness and also there’s a piano room downstairs, which sounds pretty cool. However, if you meet the piano player and he tells you that the password is “Fidelio,” then run away, as fast as you can.
On the other corner of Gay and Christopher is Leffot, a rather swanky-looking shop that sells super nice dress shoes and some clothing too. In the photo below you can see a close-up of the store’s crest. As a bonus, try to spot my freezing cold fingers and knuckles in the window reflection!
As shown, the crest has two rabbits dressed as fancy butlers holding up a big script “L” for some reason. Wait, Leffot starts with an L! I just got that.
At the bottom of the crest it says Numquam Jactate, which is Latin for “You’re not good enough to shop here.” When I looked it up on Google Translate to see what it actually meant, I was told it translated as “never joked.” Come on, lighten up, Leffot, I thought. However, I believe that, for the first time ever, Google Translate made a mistake, because when I Googled the Latin phrase I found multiple articles that cited the motto as meaning “never boast.” That’s a nice message, other than it being in Latin and alongside rabbit servants.
As you can see above, Gay Street is a dogleg right. Let’s call it a par 4.
Here’s another shot looking down toward the intersection with Waverly Place. It’s a peaceful, quiet block that probably costs about 50 million dollars to live on. That’s the price of quiet in Manhattan. I’m saving up but I’m not quite there yet. Almost. I’m hoping this blog puts me over the top.
After a while my fingers started to hurt from how freezing cold they were, since I had to take off my gloves to use my phone. I either need some of those special gloves that work on phones or I should start bringing a regular camera and a pad and pen for notes. I don’t know, both of those options seem like a lot of work. For now I guess I’ll keep letting my fingers freeze and sting badly.
It pained me to look at all these long bare branches and imagine them covered with beautiful flowers and leaves in the spring and summer. I just wanted to share that sadness with you.
Isn’t this a beautiful house with nice colors? I liked it a lot.
On the corner of Gay Street and Waverly Place is Joe, a small, cozy cafe that was standing room only, or “SRO” for you crossword solvers out there.
I was going to take a picture of the cafe’s exterior but my phone died from the cold! I went inside to warm the phone and try a pastry. Oh, and also to try to regain feeling in my hands.
Joe had a nice warm atmosphere and a nice warm temperature too, which I appreciated. To be honest I did feel a bit insufficiently hip to be in there, but maybe that was in my head. Or maybe it was the art on the walls, which seemed to me very modern and chic and minimalist, but what do I know.
I ordered an almond croissant and since there were no seats available I stood at an open spot near the door and checked on my phone. It went back on briefly but I guess it was still too cold because it died again, so I couldn’t take any more photos or notes and it was time to go home. There’s a lesson in this cold phone mishap: live in California.
I hurried home and warmed up and then took this photo of the almond croissant before eating it:
I’d say it was just average, but even an average almond croissant is delicious to me, so I was happy.
By the way, the entrances to all 3 of the stores mentioned are around corners and not actually on Gay Street, so I’ve already broken my rule established in the first post about the entrance needing to be on the actual block. Hmm. Oh well.
Since this first post is sort of a trial run, I chose for my first block a small side street with only one thing on it: a branch of the New York Public Library. Also, I was going there anyway to pick up a book, but never mind all that.
This street is one block south of Houston Street and I suppose it's right around the border between SoHo and Little Italy, if you're into that sort of information.
As you can see, this is the Mulberry Street Branch, even though the entrance is actually on Jersey Street. So why didn’t they call it the Jersey Street Branch? New Yorkers tend to look down on things named Jersey, even apparently those working at the public library. When a town’s library, of all places, wants nothing to do with you, it’s safe to say you’re not liked there.
The book drop outside can be seen in the photo and is very convenient, but it’s only for books. Don’t you dare put a DVD in there. What happens if you do? You’ll be given season tickets to the Brooklyn Nets and forced to attend every game.
While I’m on the subject of basketball, here is my list of the 3 best players ever:
1. Kristaps Porzingis
2. Michael Jordan
3. Bill Russell
I think that’s a pretty definitive list. I’m not even sure what the argument against it would be.
Here’s a photo looking at the intersection with Mulberry Street:
You might be able to see in the photo that just across from the library is a small cemetery, which is great for creating the right mood to settle in and read some heavy literary classics.
Here’s a photo looking the other way, towards Lafayette Street:
They really want you to stop.
Seen on the right side of the photo is a nice old-looking brick building, which complements nicely the library's nice new-looking brick building on the left. If you stand at the library's entrance and look across, you can see a restaurant through this building's windows. Try not to be a peeping Tom about it, though.
I found the restaurant's entrance around the corner on Mulberry Street and saw that it was named Chef’s Club. I didn’t go in or anything but it seemed like a nice place. Pretty upscale. In the window was an A rating from the health inspectors, so congrats to them for that!
Since the entrance to Chef's Club is on Mulberry Street, I'm not going to count it as technically being on the Jersey Street block that I'm writing about. But I'm not adamant in this position, and I'm willing to hear arguments that it should count.
I think that’s about all I’ve got for this block. Even though it’s a side street with just one thing, that one thing is a nice library, so it’s a good block in my book. Or blog. Whatever. Anyway I recommend it, and I’ll try to find another interesting block for my next post. Maybe even one with multiple things on it. Maybe.
