Walking Tour for Veuve Clicquot
Last Tuesday morning, I led a walking tour through the West Village that was sponsored by the prominent French champagne company Veuve Clicquot. The guests included eighteen magazine journalists, all New York aficionados from Australia, France, Germany, and Italy. From the shade of the ginkgo trees at James J. Walker Park and St. Luke’s Place, we made our way through the “cloister blocks” of Morton, Bedford, Commerce, Barrow and Grove. Then a quick break from the heat and humidity at Cafe Angelique. We resumed walking up Bleecker onto Christopher, and not surprisingly, I lost three folks to an inviting shop. They caught up with us at the corner of Greenwich Street as we stood in awe in front of the Archive. Onward and upward along W. 10th, Washington, and Charles, among the former stables and the retail on W. 11th. We concluded on the Belgium blocks of Charles Lane with mixed feelings, excited by what we had seen throughout the Village, but disappointed that the Lane is being altered by the new development on West Street. What a great group, true lovers of the urban scene.
The faded and invaded sign above says “Horses and Trucks to Hire.” It is so simple and direct and a wonderful reminder when the horse played a key role in the commerce of the Hudson seaport. The interior of the building is under renovation, what is in store for the sign?
Photo above taken 6/7/07 on W.10th Street
Photo below taken 6/7/007 at 129 Charles Street
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
