Thinking about Charlie Brown

All it takes to conjure the round-headed kid is a black diagonal stripe on a yellow background. This detail of a piece of plywood was taken at Jay Street, where subway work on the platforms continues and continues ….

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Walking to work

I know this man is a professional, and he’s only walking toward the train he’s going to drive, but that carefree smile and jaunty attitude make me nervous. I’ve internalized the MTA’s warnings about the dangers of crossing the tracks too well. The demon third rail is just waiting to throw a stone in his path so that he will trip and become a meal, for one must feed the beast.

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The latest from Jay Street

Construction continues, but movement around the platforms is easier. A lot of what they are doing is tilework, which doesn’t interrupt trains coming in and out of the station. The Metrotech entrance/exit is open again, which makes me happy because it’s my favorite entrance to Jay St. (It’s larger, airier, and cleaner than other stairwells – and closer to to tasty coffee.)

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I checked, the paint is dry

Include me among the 75 percent of people who touch the surface next to a Wet Paint sign. This sign, obviously being a close relative of the Wet Paint sign, had the same effect. My hand automatically reached out, index finger leading the way, to see what was going on. Unlike most Wet Paint signs, this was accurate.

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This-a-way & that-a-way

Most arrows are accompanied by words. When they’re not, the meaning can be open to interpretation. Is this one pointing out water leaks? A schmutzy subway wall?

Arrows on the stairs are optimistic. Stay to the right and you’ll be doing your part to help manage the rushhour crowds. Or just plunge up and down the stairs with everyone else.

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Jay Street is a mess

The Jay Street subway station is undergoing a major renovation, and it is a BIG mess this weekend. Shuttle buses are running in place of A trains between the station and Utica Avenue, and there are slowdowns because the A and F trains are usings the same inbound track. This flower vendor brought some welcome color to the construction scene.

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It’s our pleasure

The Greek-style coffee cup is quintessential New York, but with fewer Greek coffee shops and more only coffee shops around, they are not as common as they once were.* This 75-cent specimen came from the Luncheonette, which I wrote about late January, next to the Smith and 9th Street subway station.  Though on the small side, the coffee was pretty good. I’d go back again.

* MOMA sells a ceramic version of this cup. A nice, environmentally correct souvenir, it will bring much pleasure.

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View from Smith & 9th

Conveniently, there’s a hole in the chainlink fence on the Smith and 9th Street subway platform, so I stuck my hand through and snapped a picture. Uphill, in Park Slope, looks like there’s a party going on.

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Kentile sign

Pulling into the Smith and 9th station on the F and G lines, the Kentile Floors sign is what you see on the right. The factory, at 2nd Avenue and 9th Street, made “super resilient floor tiles” for almost 90 years and closed in 1988 because of asbestos lawsuits and labor issues. The landmark sign went up sometime in the 1940’s; the purple neon was turned off when the business shut down. For a neglected structure, it appears to be in pretty good shape.

This ad is from 1959.

I like to think that had I been alive and decorating in the 1950’s, I would have avoided the faux-fancy look and used my Kentile in a more modern way. Except for the zebra rug and maybe the couches, this decor steers clear of any references to the mid-century revolutions in art and design.

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Wishful thinking, Nacho

Scratchitti on the D Train

Still got Valentine’s Day on my mind, and will until the candy at Duane Reade’s sells out in a few days.

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