Yesterday was the NYC Marathon. Yessir! Forty Thousand runners dashing through the streets of New York. Coincidentally, it was also the day that the Clark family, Chiara and Tom, came into town from Boston with their adorable new baby, Finley Ray Clark. Problem was - how to get from here (the Republic of Brooklyn) to there ("the City", a k a Manhattan). Driving was out of the question as the uncrossable path of the marathon cut a swath clear across our borough, preventing access to any of the East River crossings. So we'll take the subway. No big deal. Um, wrong. Very big deal. Lori (grandmother of the new baby and mother of Chiara) told Stacey (wife of the Blogster) to take the Lexington Avenue line but to get off at 59th Street. This would allow us to take the 31 bus eastbound on 57th Street and up York Avenue to their house on 86th Street on the east side of First Avenue. The runners would be coming across the River from Queens at 58th and then heading uptown until 125th street thus making 57th the lowest street on which one would be able to navigate east all the way past First Avenue. I protested what I thought was surely a hair-brained idea.:Take the train only to 59th Street and then a bus? I'm sure we'll be able to cross First Avenue at 86th. That's Mile 18 and by that time the runners should be thinned out giving us a chance to make a dash across the avenue. Right?
Wrong! We took the Lex to 86th Street and, right away, it didn't look good. Hoards of spectators got off the train with us and headed over to First Avenue. When we arrived there the crowds were 10 deep at the curb and kept from crossing the street by hundreds of cops and interlocking barriers. The runners, never mind, were streaming up First by the hundreds and hundreds with nary a break for a humble resident (or party-goer) to get across. Oy. We stood, along with spectators and others (those, like us, who simply wanted to cross First Avenue) for a while. Making conversation with other stranded ones, one nice woman told us she'd been trying to cross for an hour, to no avail. Likewise, a young woman (with no coat on and it was cold!) who had just gone out for a cup of coffee and couldn't return. The four of us decided to do what Stacey and I should have done in the first place - get back to 57th Street and take that bus to deliver us to the east side of First Avenue and Peter and Lori's apartment house (which was staring us in the face just a few yards away - so close, yet so far!
To make a long story short - we boarded the Second Avenue bus (no charge - thanks Marathon!) and took it south from 86th street to 57th Street. As we crossed Second Avenue, after deboarding the bus, I spied the much-needed 31 Bus in the bus stop. We ran ... and missed it as it pulled out heading toward York Avenue! It would be half an hour until another arrived. Guess what? No taxis either - every single one of the hundreds passing us was occupied or off duty. It was cold and windy and I wasn't dressed properly (who woulda guessed I'd be standing outside for an hour or so). Neither was the young woman who accompanied us so Stacey offered her a scarf (at least). Finally, finally - an available taxi. "No, I won't go uptown - it's a mess up there!" Aarrgh! This is going from worse to worst! At that moment, however, and thankfully, the next 31 Bus pulled up and on we got. it was now close to 1:30 and we were an hour and half late for the party. But we had met some nice people that we shared the time (and adversity) with. I handed out some extra Obama buttons that were a big hit with our fellow travellers and we finally reached our destination.
Oh yes the party. And Finley! Well, it was worth the travail. We greeted the family and old friends, ate from Lori's wonderful spread - We had developed quite an appetite. And took some photos which I'd like to share with you. Just CLICK the photo below for a slide show of the day's events. - Matt
Meet Finley Clark - a beautiful baby girl. And her mother, Chiara.
