Meeting Alexander in New York City for dinner – Sutton Place Park

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At the end of 57th Street there’s a tiny park called the “Sutton Place Park”. It’s a nice place to sit for a while and has a great view of the East River and the Queensboro (59th) Street Bridge.

It also has a fascinating statue of a Wild Boar. It’s cast in bronze and sits on a granite pedestal decorated with snakes, crabs, salamanders, and other creatures and it looked very familiar. Once upon a time, when I was working in Geneva, Switzerland I had to periodically go down to our office in Florence, Italy – I know its I hard life, but someone has to do it. I’d often walked past Pietro Tacca’s bronze Porcellino (“piglet”) statue, located in the heart of the city and more precisely near the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo, not far from Ponte Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria. Based on an ancient Greek marble original discovered in Rome in the 16th century, tourists like to rub its snout – it’s supposed to bring good luck.

The boar in Sutton Place Park is a copy of that replica, installed in 1972 was a gift from neighborhood philanthropist, Hugh Trumbull Adams, a descendent of the colonial governor of Connecticut Jonathan Trumbull. Mr. Adams donated many public works of art to the city including the Armillary Sphere located at the pocket park further south on 54th Street and the bronze Peter Pan statue at Carl Schurz Park, about 30 blocks north along the East River.

If you follow the link above, you’ll see that there’s startling wrinkle to this story:

In August 1999, Peter Pan disappeared. In a widely reported act of vandalism, the statue was dislodged from its base, to be subsequently recovered by the New York Police Department from the bottom of the East River. There were no suspects, indeed, as Parks Commissioner Stern said at the time, “We thought his only enemy was Captain Hook.” Celia Lipton Farris, a British actress who had played Peter Pan on the stage, contributed funds toward the restoration and more secure reinstallation of the sculpture in 1999.

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Taken with a Sony RX10 IV.

In Ossining again – Garden at Trinity Episcopal Church

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“Neo-Gothic architecture, popular from the close of the 19th century until the mid 20th century, represented a revival of interest in the Gothic structures of England over the polychrome High Victorian Gothic variants favored over the preceding decades. These structures were less ornate and tended toward a monochrome color scheme, often utilizing rough faced stone cladding, arched windows, and prominent towers with castellated parapets. The Trinity Episcopal Church consists of two wings: a cruciform shaped 1892 main wing and an L-shaped parish hall and cloister, both of which were constructed in 1905. The overall plan of the structure forms a U shape, with a courtyard in the middle. The Church is constructed with rock faced limestone quarried in St. Lawrence County, New York and has random coursing on the stone facing, lending a rough visual appearance. The main wing contains pointed arch windows with stone surrounds and hooded lintels, with irregularly spaced window openings, and a group of wall dormers on the north and south elevations. The main wing’s most prominent feature is the three-story bell tower, which is square in configuration and contains a clock and a crenellated granite parapet. The main entryway on the parish house is also surrounded by crenellation.

The Trinity Episcopal Church is listed as a contributing structure within the Village’s National Register of Historic Places-listed Downtown Ossining Historic District. It is architecturally significant as a well-preserved example of the Gothic Revival style and is culturally significant for its association with the Second Episcopal Parish of Ossining.

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Trinity Episcopal Church, constructed in 1892 and located at 7 South Highland Avenue, was built as the home for the Second Episcopal Parish of Sing Sing (now Ossining). This parish was established in 1868 by returning Civil War veterans and held its first meetings in the basement of
one of the buildings in the Barlow Block. The parish later held meetings for a time in the original First Presbyterian Church, a structure that was once located on the same site where Trinity Episcopal Church now sits. After the First Presbyterian Church moved to its present location at 34 South Highland Avenue (see entry), the Parish purchased the site and built the current structure on the property. The three story stone tower that dominates the Church’s main façade was constructed in accordance with a mandate from the Episcopal Church stating that all churches must incorporate a large tower into their design as a visual symbol of this denomination. A number of the stained glass windows in the building were obtained from Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company of New York City and from Gorham Manufacturing of Providence, Rhode
Island.

Robert W. Gibson (1851 – 1927), an immigrant from England, was the architect. He built a number of other religious, institutional, and commercial structures in New York State during his career. These include the following:

• Albany Episcopal Cathedral (Albany, NY – 1884)
• St. Michael’s Church (New York, NY – 1891)
• St. Paul’s Cathedral redesign (Buffalo, NY – 1888)
• Greenwich Savings Bank (New York, NY – 1892)
• Bank of Buffalo (Buffalo, NY – 1895)”

(Village of Ossining Significant Sites and Structures Guide, Page 200)

Taken with a Sony RX100 MVII.

A visit to upstate New York and Vermont – Back in Westchester County, NY – Stone Barns

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In the previous post I mentioned that we took a look at the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. According to Wikipedia:

Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture is a non-profit farm, education and research center located in Pocantico Hills, New York. The center was created on 80 acres (320,000 m2) formerly belonging to the Rockefeller estate. Stone Barns promotes sustainable agriculture, local food, and community-supported agriculture. Stone Barns is a four-season operation.

Stone Barns Center is also home to the Barber family’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a restaurant that serves contemporary cuisine using local ingredients, with an emphasis on produce from the center’s farm. Blue Hill staff also participate in the center’s education programs.

Stone Barns’ property was once part of Pocantico, the Rockefeller estate. The Norman-style stone barns were commissioned by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to be a dairy farm in the 1930s. The complex fell into disuse during the 1950s and was mainly used for storage. In the 1970s, agricultural activity resumed when David Rockefeller’s wife Margaret “Peggy” McGrath began a successful cattle breeding operation.

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture was created by David Rockefeller, his daughter Peggy Dulany, and their associate James Ford as a memorial for Margaret Rockefeller, who died in 1996. Stone Barns opened to the public in May 2004.

In 2008, Stone Barns opened its slaughterhouse to slaughter its livestock for plating at Blue Hill. Using their own slaughterhouse also eliminated the long and expensive drives to the closest one.

In 2017, Stone Barns published Letters to a Young Farmer, a compilation of essays and letters about the highs and lows of farming life, including Barbara Kingsolver, Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, Temple Grandin, Wendell Berry, Rick Bayless, and Marion Nestle.

The farm at Stone Barns is a four-season operation with approximately 6 acres (24,000 m2) used for vegetable production. It uses a seven-year rotation schedule in the field and greenhouse beds. The farm grows 300 varieties of produce year-round, both in the outdoor fields and gardens and in the 22,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) minimally heated greenhouse that capitalizes on each season’s available sunlight. Among the crops suitable for the local soil and climate are rare varieties such as celtuce, Kai-lan, hakurei turnips, New England Eight-Row Flint seed corn, and finale fennel. The farm uses no pesticides, herbicides or chemical additives, although compost is added to the soil for enrichment. The farm has a six-month composting cycle using manure, hay, and food waste scraps.

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I’ve been to Stone Barns many times. It’s adjacent to the Rockefeller State Park Preserve, a fantastic place for walking.

Stone Barns also has its own restaurant: Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Blue Hill has two Michelin Stars, and the guide describes it as follows:

The passion of Chef Dan Barber is at the core of everything here, where a meal is a true experience that uniquely knits together his vision of improving our foodways, the grit of utilizing the land to provide sustenance, and luxurious touches like crisped linens and fine crystal.
A procession of dramatically presented, farm-fresh seasonal produce kicks off the meal and may include freshly plucked radishes with browned butter, Hakurei turnips dressed with poppy seeds, and morsels of dried honeypatch squash. While the focus is plant-based, heartier compositions may reveal roasted, retired dairy cow plated with root-to-leaf celeriac. The meal may end celebrating how this operation began; as a dairy, with a tower of milk crumbs, milk jam, panna cotta and ice cream to dress poached quince.

The restaurant also has a green star for gastronomy & sustainability. According to Chef, Bastien Guillochon:

“We work with 64 local farms; 30% of our winter menu purchased in October and November to store, preserve or ferment; day boat fisherman off Long Island represent 80% of our seafood purchases; we work closely with vegetable and grain breeders to develop and champion varieties that have lower inputs and require less energy to produce.”

For more on Blue Hill see here.

I once ate at Blue Hill. But that was many years ago, not long after it opened. It was much less expensive then.

The restaurant’s FAQs contain the following statements:

The menu price is $398 – $448 per guest, exclusive of tax and 22% administrative fee. Most reservations include a walking tour of the property prior to your meal. Bookings with this tour support Stone Barns Center programming and are $448 per guest; bookings without are $398.

Menu price is prepaid during booking, and beverages are charged separately at the time of your reservation.

And

Guests are welcome to bring special bottles of wine that are not represented on our wine list. The policy is limited to one 750ml bottle per two guests for a fee of $150 per bottle.

For a few pictures see below. The door to the restaurant was open so I peeped inside. However, I didn’t think it was appropriate to go around taking pictures. From what I saw it looked like a very nice place, as one might expect.

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Since it would cost us in excess of $2,000 for dinner for the four of us, we decided we would skip that.

But Blue Hill has another trick up its sleeve: Breakfast:

Blue Hill Cafeteria, our casual, communal space, opened in October of 2021. The Cafeteria is anchored around a large table that opens to the Dooryard Garden, where we offer seasonal outdoor seating amongst the flower beds and their pollinators.

The Cafeteria is open Wednesday through Sunday to guests visiting the Stone Barns Center, highlighting our work with whole grains, preservation and butchery through breakfast, lunch and Community Table by Blue Hill—a family style dinner.

Reservations for both Lunch Tray at Blue Hill Cafeteria and Community Table by Blue Hill can be made online via Tock. All sales are final, and reservations cannot be canceled. If your preferred booking is not available, we encourage you to add your information to the waitlist. New reservations are released one month at a time on the 15th of the month prior.

I don’t recall that we made reservations. But we did get there very early, quite a while before it opened so we were among the first people through the door. We went inside, picked up what we wanted and then went out into the garden to eat. I must say that their offerings were very good, and not ridiculously priced. It was fun sitting in the garden.

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After we finished my friends dropped me home, and then set off on their long drive back to Ottawa. It was very nice to see them again.

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV (mostly)

A visit to upstate New York and Vermont – Fort Ticonderoga – The King’s Garden

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But there’s more to Fort Ticonderoga than the Fort itself and its collections. There’s an impressive collection of books in the shop; a restaurant offering locally produced farm to table meals; a boat ride on Lake Champlain (which looked interesting, but unfortunately we didn’t have time for); an extensive corn maze where my friend’s husband took their dog for a walk. And then there’s the King’s garden where my friend and I went while her husband and the dog explored the corn maze.

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Take A Stroll Through New York’s Past At This Historic Garden by John Williams on Only in New York describes it as follows:

There are a lot of pretty gardens in New York State, but only a few come with over a decade of history. For those looking to visit a garden that is both beautiful and historical, there is one choice in New York State that is quite possibly a bit more satisfying than many others. We are talking about King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga. With major Revolutionary and Colonial war history, it might just be the most historical garden in New York. For lovers of nature, it will not disappoint. For more information, keep reading, below.

The garden, which was originally called the Colonial Revival King’s Garden, was first designed by Marian Cruger Coffin in 1921. Coffin also just happens to be one of the first female landscape architects in America.

The elements of the park include a reflecting pool, brick walls and walkways, a manicured lawn and hedges, and plenty of annual and perennial flowers, which are displayed according to color and form.

The botanical garden is six whole acres, and full of heritage flowers that harken back to the location’s Colonial and Revolutionary history.

Today, it features new gardens and orchards, tended using sustainable agricultural practices.

A video tour of the grounds and gardens can be found here.

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Taken with a Sony RX10 IV

A Visit to Philipsburg Manor – The Slave Garden

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In colonial America, it was common for enslaved men and women in rural areas to keep a provisioning garden to grow vegetables they most wanted to eat.

At Philipsburg Manor, which interprets an 18th-century provisioning plantation operated by 23 enslaved Africans, the slaves’ garden is full of plants African gardeners would have preferred – vegetables like black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes – as well as herbs.

Africans had an intimate knowledge of plants and other natural materials that they used to cure all sorts of ailments. So the herbs in a garden like this one served as an apothecary as well as a spice rack. (A Colonial Drugstore: Philipsburg Manor’s Herb Garden)

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Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II