New York Transit Museum, 10-20-10

Many old subway cars are on display in a 1936 IND

station located at the corner of Boerum Place and

Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn Heights

Charles, our very knowledgeable and entertaining guide


Rattan seats

Ad in a car from the 1920s

Charles knew all there was to know about these cars, some of which are still used on special occasions such as excursions to Coney Island (Guess how they used to prevent pilfering of light bulbs -- The bulbs screwed in backwards, thus were useless anywhere else)

A wooden car

1904 paper ticket chopper

Brooklyn, continued: The Esplanade

A short walk from the Heights Cafe

lies the Esplanade, or Promenade

with a great view of lower Manhattan


including the Brooklyn Bridge

and a far-off glimpse of Lady Liberty

Not a rose

I loved the way the late afternoon sun was shining through the blossom of the angel wing begonia, grown from a slip this year.

Finished bringing in all houseplants yesterday and don't have table space for everything!

Brooklyn trip, continued

These two pix belong with the baseball close-up I showed before.

That's Roy Campanella's uniform.

There are many fine old houses in Brooklyn Heights

The lines on the right are part of the bus.

This large heavy tea kettle is from the 18th century

Likewise this powder horn

The library staff have their offices up in the gallery

I found it hard to leave the library

Trip to the Brooklyn Historical Society

The Brooklyn Historical Society is a fascinating place, well worth a visit. For info on my German ancestors who lived in Williamsburg in the 1850s I'll have to come back another time. Today was a great introduction to the area.

Our group, arranged by the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook, enjoyed a private tour today followed by a great lunch at the Heights Cafe, which is one block from the Esplanade. Then we visited the New York Transit Museum. A fun day! The BHS is in Brooklyn Heights, a very "in" place these days.

We saw real stuff from Dem Bums

(As a childhood Yankee fan I felt like an interloper)

Here's the gorgeous Library

Talks on interesting paintings of earlier days.

Wonderful woodwork, books, displays, stairways.

In my element

(More pictures tomorrow)

No bull

Long Island was in the archaeology news recently with the announcement of a former museum director being sent to jail for selling some museum objects at Christie's. One of the objects was an Apis bull (not the one above).
Article on Apis in Egyptian mythology

A sense of the rally

To get a good sense of the atmosphere at the One Nation Rally in Washington on 10-2-10 you can watch this 14-minute video
It shows the amazing diversity of the groups and individuals. What a day!

Another view of those gilded lamps

Wonderfully incongruous on a classical building. There are Greek and Roman temples all over Washington -- Supreme Court, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Commerce Dept. -- I love 'em --and, well-well, nobody is getting angry over them. There's hope for us yet.

Our walk back to the Metro took us past the Commerce Dept.

I wouldn't mind living among such buildings. Maybe our trouble is that there's not enough grandeur in our lives and our thoughts are too small.

Rally -- World War Two Memorial

A pillar for each state and territory

Looking down


Looking up

The fountain

The Pacific Theater arch

The pool, a lovely spot

The Atlantic Theater arch

More information

Rally -- 3rd batch

Our gang

Joyce, Marie, moi, Ellen, Jane-Marie, Steve

(Kevin took the picture)

Yup, we were there


(Pictures of WW2 Memorial tomorrow)

One Nation Rally -- 2nd batch

The unemployment situation was a major emphasis

Auto workers

Huge numbers of green shirts: the American Federation of State, County and Municiple Employees

Many hawkers, few buyers

Kevin gives a tutorial


Some lugged chairs with them


The good old Washington Monument


Gilded lamps on the Mellon Auditorium
on Constitution Avenue

The Trumpeter

You could hear him playing as you came up the escalator at the Federal Triangle Metro station. The music (perhaps Vivaldi) reverberated through the huge spaces of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. He was there when we arrived and he was still there playing when we left.

(More pictures tomorrow)