I was on my way to a downtown block that was the subject of an "in need of redevelopment" or "in need of rehabilitation" study when I saw a large crane towering over the small city park on West Second Street. So I had to go there first. Public Works Superintendent John Louise was there and explained that a pre-fabricated rest room was being installed.
He said all the utility connections were in place, ready to be hooked up to the new building.
The building (or crane, or both) arrived on a flatbed trailer that was parked on Madison Avenue.
A view of the crane and building from the West Second Street side of the park.
It's a nice-looking building. I had seen earlier preparations at the site and thought they were for a skate park, but John Louise said it will be on the Central Avenue side of the park.
On to Block 247. This block is also bounded by West Second Street, Madison Avenue and Central Avenue, with West Front Street to the north. Its eleven properties include this very large apartment building on Madison Avenue, businesses on West Front, a large city parking lot and another city-owned lot recently used as a staging area for a PSE&G upgrade, and some vacant buildings on the West Second side.
A popular fish market is one of the West Front businesses.
Upper floors on West Front have ornate metal fire escapes. A proposal to redevelop the Cooper's Office Furniture building was withdrawn before a Planning Board hearing this month.
This stretch of West Front includes a night club, Pueblo Viejo, and a billiards parlor. The "in need" study is available in the City Clerk's office and the Planning Division in City Hall. A public hearing on the study will be held at the Oct. 6 Planning Board meeting, 7:30 p.m. in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Ave.
Walking home, I saw some interesting graffiti way up high on a building.
This tagger's motif can be seen around the downtown, here also pretty high up.
Watching over all is "downtown guy," my name for this sculpture on an East Front Street facade.
--Bernice
Love your photo walks! The tag in the next to last photo is supposed to be a bomb. That same tag is all along the Raritan Valley Line for trains. I noticed one had it labeled "da bomb." When I first noticed it, I thought something else entirely.
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