Urban Gadabout

Gathering for a descent into the under-construction Second Avenue subway: Says Mitch, "There were a sizable number of sharp elbowed reporters in the group, including the former First Lady of NYC, Donna Hanover.

Ernest Flagg's late, lamented Singer Building(No, the loss wasn't recent, but you see --)by KenMaybe you had to grow up with Pogo -- at best half-understanding it, at that -- to have a proper horror of this week's upcoming Friday the 13th fallling on a Wednesday. Compared with that, Postcard Thursday happening on a Friday is like a walk in the park.

No, you can't click on anything here, or type anything in. But you can by going to janeswalk.org.by KenJust some quick updating, mostly occasioned by the upcomingness of a favorite weekend of the year in this space, Jane's Walk Weekend.

This time Justin's hardy Tottenville explorers will get inside Conference House.

McKim, Mead and White's University Club,at Fifth Avenue and West 54th Streetby KenThis morning I made sure to get enough of my day's posts posted so that I could go out and play, notwithstanding the arctic weather here in the Big Apple.

Part of Prospect Park's restored Lakeside: The two Lakeside tours are booked up, but reservations aren't required for an OHNY visit to Lakeside. The list of no-registration events is here.by KenI realize that a last call for Open House New York Weekend, which takes place tomorrow and Sunday, isn't likely to be of great interest to non-New Yorkers.

by KenThanks to the miracle of modern blog scheduling technology (which works more or less like that great space-age technological innovation the alarm clock), by the time you read this (or don't), I should be back with NYC limits after my whirlwind descent on Washington, D.C.

"Overview" from the Open House New York website: "For two days every October, OHNY Weekend unlocks the doors to New York’s most important buildings, offering an extraordinary opportunity to experience the city and meet the people who design, build, and preserve New York.

On Saturday, September 6, Norman Oder leads the MAS walking tour "Long Island City, Queens in Flux: Court Square and Hunters Point." I've done at least six or seven tours with Norman now, and they've all been tremendously rewarding.by KenIf you look among the newly announced September, October, and November walking-tour offerings of the Municipal Art Society at the description of Francis's Morrone's September 28 tour, "T

You can click on the photo to enlarge it, but better still is to look at it a photographer Mitch Waxman's intended size and resolution on his Newtown Pentacle blog.by KenI've written before about my happy tramping around NYC with Mitch Waxman (like this June 2012 piece about