It took a bus - For all the fault to be found with the MTA, it's nice to see that each ride or each stop can create a village. Example 1, a man got off the bus on 61st and Lex. Traffic is very very slow. About 5 stops later, huffing and puffing, the same man gets on the bus again. "I lost my wallet. I lost my wallet," he moaned, almost crying, as he entered the bus and walked over to the front seat where he had been sitting. He looked down and under the seat. Voila, his wallet. The riders and the driver gave him a shout and applause. Next, another bus, and a woman who had traveled to Penn Station from Merrick, LI, told no one in particular that she took the trip so that so she could return to the restaurant where she had had the "best crepes" she had ever had. As she was riding the 86th St. crosstown, going west (don't know why coming from Penn Station to go to West 86th St. - she was on the East Side), she forgot the name and location of the restaurant she was going to, except that it was close to the 86th St. crosstown bus on the UWS. As she was explaining her plight - again to no one in particular - her fellow riders took action. Using Iphones, smartphones, whatever they located two possibilities for the immediate vicinity: La Mirabelle, a French bistro near Columbus Ave., and Viva La Crepe, a self-serve creperie on Columbus in front of the M7, M11 bus stop. "That's it, that's it," she grinned. "In front of the bus stop; in front of the bus stop. I'm getting off. I'm getting off. Thank you. Thank you," as she gleefully reminded her fellow travelers, "Remember, it's Viva La Crepe, in case I forget again."
Chocolate's hot - Looks like chocolatiers are creating their own footprint in NY - in Manhattan anyway. The Godiva shop at 50th and Lex, which once was the go-to place for gifts of chocolate, is now a café where you can buy the gift of chocolate and sit down at a table, indoors or outdoors, and have a cup of Joe, a croissant/waffle sandwich, or a chocolate covered treat. Then there's Hotel Chocolat. on the east side of Lexington between 44th and 45th Street. At first I thought it was another hotel, but turns out it's a chocolate gift shop. Further uptown, at 731 Lexington, between 58th/59th Streets, Laderach Chocolate is getting ready to open. It's located in what is known as the Bloomberg Tower, the place where our erstwhile mayor's business is located. Sweet stuff's happening on Lexington Avenue.
Where the rubber meets the sidewalk - Great to see that the westbound bus stop at 23rd Street and Second Avenue has added rubber padding on the street between the sidewalk and the bus stop so that riders don't have to navigate the several inches required to step from the curb onto the bus. Or to step down from the bus when getting off. It's particularly challenging when getting off through the back exit because you have to step down and there are no sidebars to grasp as you do that. Glad to see the change to the city sidewalk at the bus stop. Hope it comes to all bus stops that don't have high curbs.