Geography of New York City walking tour class

I took a Geography of NYC - Ground Proof class/walking tour last Thursday with Jack Eichenbaum, an urban geographer with vast knowledge of NYC history. The class was called Ground Proof and focused on areas in New York City where topographic, historic, demographic and economic change is greatest. This photo is from Long Island City, directly across the river from midtown Manhattan. This park has been redeveloped from vacated industrial brownfields, specifically where trains loaded cargo onto barges.

Newtown Creek (seperates Long Island City, Queens to the North and Greenpoint, Brooklyn to the South).

PS1 in LIC. This is one of the first public buildings in Long Island City, originally a public school, that was built by the City of New York after the 5 boroughs (Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island) were consolidated in 1898. Today, this building houses art studios for international art students.

This is an example of the beautiful brownstones in Brooklyn. This is in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.

An eclectic block in Bed-Stuy.

Brooklyn College campus in the Flatbush neighborhood.

Along with the theme of the class, this is a change in housing types after crossing an old train track in Brooklyn near Brooklyn College. I never knew Brooklyn had this type of housing.

This is the other side of the train track.

The hill in the distance is Park Slope, where I live.

Tenement buildings in the Lower East Side/East Village of Manhattan.

An example of the gentrification on the Lower East Side. There are many nice restaurants and bars on the Lower East Side and in the East Village that have sprouted up in the last ten years. This is probably my favorite part of the city to hang out in.

Directly across the street from the previous picture, this is what most of the Lower East Side and East Village looked like ten years ago.

Some urban art on Clinton Street (it was trash day).

More urban art.

A very tall sculpture in a private garden in the East Village. This place felt like you were in the 1960s.

Same garden.

This is the old meatpacking district. Most of the meat markets are now in The Bronx and Harlem, so this area is being quickly gentrified as well.

Fancy hotels and apartments in the meatpacking district.

We finished the class in the West Village at Corner Bistro for a beer and burger. This place has the best burgers in the city and probably the only place in Manhattan that you will find a $2 draft beer. I will be sure to take you here for a burger if you ever come out to NY. This was around 5:30 in the afternoon. If you came in the late evening (or very early morning), there would be a line out the door.

After the class, I walked around the Chelsea Market, which is a really neat little mini-mall type thing. Supposedly, it is a former Nabisco factory where the Oreo cookie was first produced. The offices upstairs are home to The Food Network, Major League Baseball and NY1 TV Station, among others.

Chelsea Market concourse.

Chelsea Market

Chelsea Market lighting.