Development still seems to be under way in East Harlem, despite the lingering effects of the recession and the elevated Metro-North Railroad tracks along Park Avenue. Just south of 125th Street there are at least a few bakeries popping up, which supply stores located in more desirable neighborhoods. While that seems an appropriate use, this new building looks to be residential. Those units are going to need some seriously soundproofed windows.
I turned down a perfectly nice one-bedroom apartment once in Astoria, Queens, even though I had already been selected for the lease by the realtor, which in New York City is a victorious skirmish in the battle of finding somewhere to live. The place had one major flaw: ominously close, elevated tracks just outside and above the living-room window. I did my research first: trains didn’t go by nearly as often as they do on the Park Avenue tracks, on which all trains on all three Metro-North lines run en route to and from the northern suburbs. Even so, I was concerned that I would have nightmares or my bed would shake to a passing 3:00 a.m. freight train.
Observed several blocks south:
Why was the pig painting installed upside down? Perhaps so people like me would question why.
The Semi-Urban Explorer 