Along the Hudson

Sunday, I headed West to Riverside Park to check out the restored section of Hudson river walk (between 96th street and the Boat Basin) and see what was up with the 69th street Transfer Bridge.  Since discovering Central Park's Conservatory Garden, I hadn't spent any time in Riverside Park in well over a year.  I was reminded that the walk along the river is one of the best in NY -- particularly the section below the boat basin which has been restored to feel like a boardwalk meandering among sea grasses.

Much to my surprise and delight, the 2012 Model to Monument (M2M) show had opened on Thursday.  Brought to us by the Art Students League of NY, M2M has art students working under Gregg Wyatt (sculptor in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine) to learn how to create site-specific public art on a monumental scale. Of the seven sculptures (map), my favorites are Cope (Damien Armondo Vera) and Proceeding Being (HakSul Lee).

Cope
The only angle you can't get on this sculpture seems to be from above.  Otherwise, you can study it from below and from all sides --- including inside!

Proceeding Being
Sculptures with movement are the best and -- on a windy day -- Proceeding Being had movement aplenty.  And, given how it was sited, you could easily walk around it to get a view from all sides (not that you can tell from these photos -- both shot from the same direction using Instagram and then my regular iPhone camera).

69th Street Transfer Bridge

69th Street Transfer Bridge

As for the 69th Street Transfer Bridge -- land marked in 2003, this bridge was once a transfer bridge for freight coming off the New York Central Railroad and heading to Weehawken, NJ.  I had been a bit worried about it having spotted a crane towering over the bridge a week or so ago.  Big sigh of relief -- my treasured hulk of New York City's gritty industrial past is still standing.  The crane is there as a part of a restoration project.  Today's iPhone photo.....

And photos from a November 2008 walk -- the very early days of finding peace behind a lens.

69th Street Transfer Bridge Close Up 2 (2008)

69th Street Transfer Bridge Close Up (2008)

69th Street Transfer Bridge Close Up 3 (2008)

Pier D
Sadly, that is not the case for another remnant of days long gone.  Pier D, a sculptural hulk rising softly out of the river is gone!  There was no landmark status to protect that pier from a quick take down in January 2011.  As reported in the NYTimes, Pier D was dismantled over the course of MLK weekend lest it collapse and create a navigation hazard.   Now that was a piece of art that I will miss very much.

That same long ago November walk yields some images of what once was.

Pier D - Hudson River (2008)

Pier D - Hudson River (Close Up)

Pier D Close Up 2 (2008)

Pier D - Close Up 3 (2008)