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Friday, January 15, 2010

On Police Precincts and Commuting Whilst Asleep

Police Station, NYC
Photo by myself in Soho, around Centre and Broome Streets.

This gorgeously ritzy building just outside Little Italy was once a police station. It now houses large condo apartments. Last month, a one-bedroom in the building sold for nearly $4 million, while a four-bedroom went for nearly $20 million.

It's been long rumored that 240 Centre Street is home to runway models and celebrities like George Clooney. I've walked by many times and have never seen anyone coming out or going in.

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Apologies for being a bit out of it, recently. Things have been getting busier at the office, which is a good thing, I suppose.

Thursday morning involved a harrowing subway ride from Brooklyn to the Upper East Side. I woke up late and had exactly one hour to get from Park Slope to 94th Street and Park Avenue for a 9am meeting.

An hour is cutting it close, but it can be done if there are no delays. I raced to the subway and changed to a #5 express train, which arrived within moments. I was golden. All the stars were aligned. At 8:53, my train stopped at 86th Street and Lexington.

Then stupid me stayed on the train. Stupid me forgot the train was an express train and would not stop at 96th Street, so that I could walk the few blocks to the meeting, triumphantly on time. The doors closed and the train started and kept going and going.

Subway stops whizzed by. I started to sweat. All other passengers read their papers or enjoyed the ride, but I fidgeted frantically. A voice announced that the next stop would be '125th Street, Harlem'.

How many years have I lived here? Don't I know it's better to check the silly map than to board a train unknowingly? Duh?

In the end I was just a few minutes late, thank god, but I could have been triumphantly right on time! There's a lesson in this, people! Be alert, for heaven's sake!

Related posts: Dusk Among Towers, From Under the Bridge and Details, Details.

9 comments:

Olivier said...

il est magnifique ce bâtiment, j'adore

Laura Cousins said...

"Be Alert! Your Country Needs Lerts!"

I really love that picture. There is something uplifting about it, I find.

Things like this happened to me often, when I travelled on the London Underground.

Washington said...

Hi Kitty!

That is an incredibly beautiful building and the price to live in is incredibly high!
I'm a little neurotic about punctuality, so I quite understand what you felt on the train beyond the frustration over the wrong train!

Luis Gomez said...

What a great building!

Terry at Blue Kitchen said...

Great photo and a harrowing ride indeed, Kitty. One Chicago el I used to ride would express for several miles during rush hour, which was perfect for me. But every once in a while, you'd see someone who should have gotten off at the last stop before it went express figuring that out just as the train left the station. Not fun.

dianasfaria.com said...

Ughh! so close Kitty! but at least you were just a few minutes tardy!
I wonder if there is some sort of secret passage way to this building because the few times I have passed it I never saw anyone coming or going from there either.

Hilda said...

It's a magnificent building, but $4M for a one bedroom?? Eek.

The light in your photo is gorgeous.

Louis la Vache said...

What a fine old building! These older designs are so much more appealing than the new ones of the 'stacked ice cube tray' school of architecture.

Good recycling of the building, too...

Portrait Artist said...

Wow! A big Wow for how beautiful is this building was and a big WOW for the prize of a room! hehehe..
Nice shot! I like your style of portraits from photos.