We took our first mommy outing on Thursday with S & N to Gantry Plaza State Park, another park on the water in Long Island City. This one is a bit south of Socrates State Park, with views of the UN, Chrysler Building & Empire State Building. It's set in (yet another) industrial section of Queens, complete with gantries and the Pepsi-Cola sign. (There will be some pictures of those on the side when blogger will let me add an element to the template.)
Formerly the 'hood of the eldest Swensson, there's been much change in the year or so since she left - 3 more luxury residential towers (to add to the original 2) with 7 more underway. It's really quite good that the 2012 Olympics didn't come to NYC - who needs an olympic village when you can have luxury highrises? Sticking completely with the usual NYC gentrification plan, they're converting a number of factories into lofts and opening up a Whole Foods too.
While Caroline, again, was unfazed by the skyline, she was quite enamoured with a long stone path by the water. She let me chase her down it a couple of times before she discovered the 'Dog Free Zone' sign. It was here that she stopped trotting. She immediately approached the sign started pounding her hands on it as if to say 'AJ!!!!! Nooooooooo!!!!!'. She then grabbed the rails and rattled the door for extra emphasis. Finally, she pointed at the sign and gave a little pant (signifying she knew it was a picture of a dog) to show her solidarity.
Later on we wandered down to Pier #2, which is completely enclosed by hatched wire, thank goodness. There, Caroline & N met a new dog friend and played while the dog's female owner - I'll call her B - tried to pick S & myself up. The conversation went something like this:
B: Are they cousins or friends?
Formerly the 'hood of the eldest Swensson, there's been much change in the year or so since she left - 3 more luxury residential towers (to add to the original 2) with 7 more underway. It's really quite good that the 2012 Olympics didn't come to NYC - who needs an olympic village when you can have luxury highrises? Sticking completely with the usual NYC gentrification plan, they're converting a number of factories into lofts and opening up a Whole Foods too.
While Caroline, again, was unfazed by the skyline, she was quite enamoured with a long stone path by the water. She let me chase her down it a couple of times before she discovered the 'Dog Free Zone' sign. It was here that she stopped trotting. She immediately approached the sign started pounding her hands on it as if to say 'AJ!!!!! Nooooooooo!!!!!'. She then grabbed the rails and rattled the door for extra emphasis. Finally, she pointed at the sign and gave a little pant (signifying she knew it was a picture of a dog) to show her solidarity.Later on we wandered down to Pier #2, which is completely enclosed by hatched wire, thank goodness. There, Caroline & N met a new dog friend and played while the dog's female owner - I'll call her B - tried to pick S & myself up. The conversation went something like this:
B: Are they cousins or friends?
Me: Friends.
B: Do you live around here?
B: Do you live around here?
Me: No, we're just on a trip - from Jackson Heights
B: Oh! Do you like to explore the city with the kids?
B: Oh! Do you like to explore the city with the kids? Me:Yeah
B: Well, I was working on getting something together. Would you be interested?
Me: Oh - do you have a child? Are you a mommy?
B: Uh - no, I actually have a friend who is. She has two girls. I just like to put things together
Me: Oh.
What I learned from the conversation? Piers are definitely not a place to hook-up with other mommies. People on piers are just plain weird.
B: Well, I was working on getting something together. Would you be interested?
Me: Oh - do you have a child? Are you a mommy?
B: Uh - no, I actually have a friend who is. She has two girls. I just like to put things together
Me: Oh.
What I learned from the conversation? Piers are definitely not a place to hook-up with other mommies. People on piers are just plain weird.
