Travel to the City

 Last week I traveled into Manhattan to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers at Salon 94, an art gallery/museum on E 89th St. I took the Long Island Railroad into Grand Central. On the way this lady was sitting diagonally across from me with her dog. I was hoping to be able to sketch him upright, but he was comfy snuggled down on the seat.

The group wasn't meeting until 11:00, but I went in early enough that I had time to sketch in the Grand Central Food Court by a place called Donut Plant. For most of the time I was sketching there was a line of people waiting to be served. I didn't indulge.

Grand Central

Grand Central was my destination on Saturday. The Long Island Railroad has just started offering train service to Grand Central (at E 42nd St & Park Ave). Previously the LIRR trains all terminated at Penn Station (at 34th St & Seventh Ave). To get from one to the other you needed to take the subway and then a shuttle from the west side to the east side).  The new station for the LIRR is about 15 floors below ground level with an insanely long escalator that made me dizzy. 

I did one sketch on the train going into the city.  I originally planned on sketching part of this woman's friend who was seated opposite her, but I ran out of room and only sketched her one knee. lol

Grand Central was where the NYC Urban Sketchers were meeting. It is a wonderful place for sketching architecture as well as people. I started out on the main concourse where the famous clock where everyone seems to meet is located. The clock is surrounded by a vast and wonderful space. If I had been a little quicker setting up there was a group of 5 dancers performing right in front of me, but I wasn't ready to sketch before they finished. lol

After a break for lunch with the other sketchers, I remained downstairs where the dining hall is located. I sat across from Luke's Lobster to sketch. I had lobster bisque from there for my lunch. The sign says they were voted New York's best lobster roll. I can't say if that is true, but if the lobster bisque was any indication the sign may be right.

At 3 o'clock we gathered for show and tell in an empty area downstairs. Luckily most of our sketchers had their own stools to sit on. 

Pardon my ranting here. My big beef presently is that since they renovated the downstairs food stands ALL the seating has been removed, except for the businesses that have specially roped off areas for their customers. Previously there were many tables and chairs available and long wooden benches in some locations for seating. Those are ALL GONE!!! Commuters who are tired and need a break before their trains, parents with children, seniors who physically may not be able to stand for a long time, and disabled people really have no options for seating. It is disgraceful!!! Tables that you have to stand at are the only options available. Upstairs they constantly make announcements that customers are not allowed to sit on the floor or on the stairs. I guess we are lucky they allowed us to use our chairs/stools. Unfortunately I think this lack of seating is a trend in most large stations.