A Chelsea Morning and a Squirrel Afternoon

It has been a cool, foggy, rain filled week here in New York City, definitely more like April weather than May. I had a routine doctor visit this week and went over to his new office in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan, on 7th Avenue.  7th Avenue is also known as "Fashion Avenue" due to its role as a center of the garment and fashion industry and the famed fashion designers who established New York as a world fashion capital.   I passed the Fashion Institute of Technology, at 7th Avenue and 27th Street, which is part of the State University of New York.  It is New York City’s internationally recognized college for design, fashion, art, communications, and business. The Museum at FIT is open to the public and is one of a select group of specialized fashion museums in the world.

Next, I passed the Chelsea Television Studios at 221 West 26th Street (between Seventh and Eighth  Avenues) where the Martha Stewart show is taped.  It can be hard to get tickets to see her show because of the large demand, but I was fortunate to be able to attend a taping a few years ago with a couple of friends. We were there for the segment on Lady M Cake Boutique which featured the Mille Crepes as their signature cake.  It is made of no less than twenty paper-thin handmade crepes layered with ethereal light pastry cream, and then the top is caramelized.  Each audience member was served a slice, and I remember it just melted in my mouth with goodness!  Martha was very nice and stayed after taping to answer audience questions.

I then passed The City Quilter shop at 133 West 25th Street.  This fun shop has over 4,000 patterns of fabric but it specializes in New York City prints!  My daughter and her fiance are wearing reversible aprons that a friend made as part of a bridal shower gift from fabric she bought at The City Quilter. Don't they look cute?

After my doctor visit, I walked east towards the Gramercy/Flatiron neighborhood and Madison Square Park.  I've shown this beautiful little park on my blog many times before, and I never tire of visiting it. One side has a wonderful view of the iconic Flatiron building, and the other side shows the Empire State building in the distance.

All the rain we've been having has made the park grass very thick and green, and some of the park's peripheral border hydrangea bushes were in bloom, along with giant allium plants.

Two years ago I took these photos of the pink hydrangeas that dominate the park, which you can read more about in this post. They have not yet bloomed at this time.

On this park visit, I headed over to the famous Shake Shack.  I had not eaten this morning, because I had a blood test at the doctor, and by 11:30 AM I was famished. Luckily, I arrived before the large midday lunch crowd had formed a long line.

The Shake Shack opened its doors in 2004 and quickly became a neighborhood favorite for locals and tourists alike. Their Shake burger, hot dog and frozen custard have been voted among the best in the city. They are open daily from 11AM till 11PM.  Click on the webcam on their web site to see the current activity around their location.

I had the yummy single Shack Burger and French Fries along with a bottle of water. Everything was so good!  I know I'll never be a skinny fashion model on Fashion Avenue, so I didn't worry about this indulgent brunch.

As I ate a little bird sat across from me as if to keep me company.

Then this furry fellow came down from the tree, right behind the bird, and stared right at me. Obviously, the smell of food was alerting all the park's wildlife that lunch was being served!

Soon birds and squirrels began arriving in droves, looking for dropped or discarded crumbs under the tables.

This squirrel found a piece of French fry and sat at the table next to me to eat it.

He liked his lunch as much as I did!

 (One caveat: I would never advocate throwing human food to wild animals, as I know it isn't good for them and can harm them.  Plus, it can also make them quite aggressive and lose their fear of humans which is not a good thing.)

As I left the park I saw another squirrel sitting on the back of a park bench. He was covered with bits of paper, as he obviously had just emerged from a trash can.

In his hands was a nice cheesy hamburger wrapper which he was thoroughly enjoying! 

 I think if I had to be a squirrel in New York City, I'd like to have my home in a tree in Madison Square Park next to the Shake Shack -- wouldn't you?