Mott Haven, more like "Swap" Haven!

Roar! For the winter GrowNYC has organized a series of five swap-meets throughout the city, one for each borough. The first one was on Staten Island, the second one was in Inwood on Manhattan, and this past weekend they had the third one up in Mott Haven in the Bronx! I decided it would be fun to check out a new neighborhood and get some free stuff to boot!

Here I am outside GrowNYC's Stop n' Swap in Mott Haven! The swap was in the BronxWorks Community Center. It is a pretty neat looking place! I can't wait to get inside and check out the swap! Roar!

Woah! Just get a look at all the cool stuff down there! It's definitely time to start swapping! Roar!

There were lots of cool things at the swap, from various electronics to all types of clothes! Humans sure have a lot of things! I wonder what I'll find here?

I brought a bunch of old books to the swap but it looks like they already had plenty of those, just check out all these copies of Eragon! I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want that book, it has such cool dragons in it! Roar!

Mott Haven is a pretty cool neighborhood, too bad it was such a crummy day! I had wanted to explore the neighborhood a bit and visit some of the historical districts. Here I am outside of St. Ann's Park across from the swap. The park is named for St. Ann's Church, the oldest church in the Bronx, which is just a few blocks away. As for the rest of the historic districts, I hear they contain plenty of "handsome" brownstones! Roar!

I don't normally wear clothes but I got a couple shirts from the swap to stencil! I'll probably take these to another swap in the future to trade to people!

Look at all the sweet stuff I got from the swap! I got some science fiction books including works by Robert Anton Wilson, Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Isac Asimov, and even some of C.S. Lewis' rare space trilogy! I also picked up some comic books, some CD's (including one by Meredith Monk), and some old VHS copies of the Fleischer Superman cartoons and Death Race 2000! Talk about cool!

There was one really "Bronxy" thing I got at the Mott Haven swap! It was an underground hip hop cassette tape by Boiler which featured the tracks Superseed and Frontin'! Just listen to those sick beats! Roar!

I had a lot of fun at the swap in Mott Haven! It was great to give away some of my old stuff and get some sweet new stuff in return! There are still two more Stop n' Swaps coming up, one is in Jackson Heights on February 12th and the last one is in Fort Greene on the 26th. GrowNYC is a great organization and recycling old stuff is a great way to help keep New York my favorite color: Green! Roar! 

Centro Cultural Ricon Criollo

Roar! Today I decided to make one last trip up to the Bronx to do the last Key to the City stop I had there. I needed to visit the Centro Cultural Ricon Criollo which is a Puerto Rican cultural center and community garden. Sounds neat!

Here I am outside of the gate for the garden my key opens! It a pretty little patch with a bunch of great looking plants inside. Let's open it up!

Woah! Check out this scarecrow! I am sure am glad they didn't have a scare-rex in here! That would have been terrifying! Roar!

This garden is pretty nice! Look how beautiful these chilis are that are coming in! I tried eating one and they were so hot I ended up breathing fire! Then everyone who saw me eat the chili thought I was a dragon! It was really funny because everyone knows dragons aren't real! Roar!

The guys at the community garden were really cool! They were all so proud to have their garden as part of the project and they spent a lot of time showing me the plants they were growing and everything they had done to make the garden as nice as it is! They had done some cool stuff like turn old broken drums into planters and even went so far as to trellis a grapevine over most of the back of the garden. It was so nice and shady, plus the grapes were delicious! Roar!

If you're up in the area be sure to stop by and check out this sweet garden! Roar!

Bronx Art Adventures

Roar! Today I went back up the Bronx to do anther Key to the City location as well as some exploring! I'd heard about a sculpture by the artist Richard Serra that was being stored in a yard somewhere in Port Morris. I decided to see if I could find it.

After riding around Port Morris for a bit I found the sculpture sitting in a yard by the water. It turns out I'd actually seen this sculpture once before, when it was being loaded onto flat bed trucks behind the MoMA. I still don't know what this thing is supposed to look like when it's set up! Roar!

It was pretty cool to go inside this big industrial sculpture in the middle of nowhere! Overall I'd describe the experience as being pretty surreal. It's not often you get to see art in this context!

Next I rode on up to the Point Community Development Center to visit another Key to the City location.

hmm... I guess my key opens this rusty door! Let's find out what's inside!

Roar! Turns out it's a big artists' collective and they want everyone who comes here to enjoy themselves and paint on the wall! Cool! I love painting!

I drew this self portrait on the ceiling! That way no one can look down on it! Roar!

There was also a lot of sweet art on the wall of the yard of the Point Community Development Center. This place is pretty neat. Besides the art studio they also have a community garden, a woodworking shop, and they even make boats! If you're in the area definitely check this place out! Roar!

T-Rex Goes to Court and Back to School Special!

Roar! One bourough I definitely haven't spent enough time in is the Bronx! I've only been here a couple of times before, once to visit the northernmost point in New York City and then again on my recent summer solstice adventure. In order to rectify this I decided to head up there to check out a few more of the Key to the City locations. Luckily for me two of them were close enough together that I could do them both in one day!

Here I am in front of the Bronx County Courthouse. I bet there are tons of important judicial decisions made here everyday! Maybe even some right now! Truthfully I don't know much about this stuff, it was a roar for a roar back in my day! Let's go inside and see!

The inside of the courthouse is like one big maze around a center room. The center conference room was super cool looking but unfortunately they wouldn't let any one inside. I guess that's where they keep the laws. Roar...

My key opened this suggestion box downstairs by the Department of Marriage. To get there I had to go down a very specific staircase and through a labyrinth of identical corridors. I even saw a minotaur, but he was just there for small claims court.

There was a ton of different notes in the box! Not many of them were suggestions though. There was even this sweet temporary tattoo and another sudoku! Someone up here in the Bronx sure loves sudoku! Roar!

Next I decided to head up to Public School 73. On my way up there I passed a couple of pieces of interesting street art.

Here I am in front of the McMural at the McDonalds over by the new Yankee stadium. I'm not really sure if I'm loving it. 

Wow! The folks at Micky D's up here sure are strict about their outside food policy! Roar!

On my way up to the school I passed this sweet mural too! Look at the cool parrot! I love birds!

Here I am in front of the display case at Public School 73! PS 73 is located in District 9 of the Bronx which is one of the poorest areas in the city. Maybe someone will make a movie about it someday! As for the display case, there sure are a bunch of cool looking things in it! Let's open it up and see what they are!

There was even this sweet envelope with notes from all of the students. Too bad it was empty, I would have really liked to hear what all the kids had to say! Roar...

I left this sweet motivational poster inside the display case for the kids. I sure hope they like it!

Wow! I had a lot of fun exploring the Bronx today! I can't wait to come back up here to do the rest of the Key to City locations. Roar!

My Summer Solstice Adventure: Midday

Roar! After my morning in Queens I decided to ride over the bridge formerly known as the Tri-Borough and head into the Bronx.

Here I am approaching the newly renamed Robert F. Kennedy bridge. It's a pretty nice looking bridge. Roar!

Turns out there is an even nicer bridge just north of the Tri-Kennedy. Now, the Hell Gate bridge really is one nice looking bridge! R-roar!

Next, I rode across Randall's Island and over the creek that leads into to the Bronx.

Then I rode up across the Bronx and over to the PostNet center to check out one of the Key to the City locations in the Bronx. 

It turned out my key opened this post office box. 

Looks like a lot of people have been sending mail here! I hope there is something for me! Roar!

Just get a look at all of the cool stuff that was inside! There were notes from all sorts of different people, not to mention postcards and letters! 

There was even this enticing Sudoku! Too bad someone had already solved it. Roar...

Roar! I left a package of free stickers for the all the people who will come to check out the box after me. I sure hope they enjoy them!

After visiting postnet I decided to ride north up to Bronx Community College to visit a few "celebrities". Roar!

This is the Hall of Great Americans at the Bronx Community College. Built in 1900, it's the original hall of fame and features a number of renowned Americans. 

The hall is divided into all sorts of different sections, from statesmen and scientists, to musicians and teachers. Here are a few of my favorites from the authors section. Looks like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Samuel Clemens are neighbors. Oh, and this serious looking guy is New York City native Washington Irving! He's one of the biggest names in Gotham history: he even nicknamed it Gotham! I guess it wasn't Batman after all. Roar!

Here I am hanging out with John Phillip Sousa! One of the greatest American composers to ever live! I wish I could talk to him, but I think I need a Sousa-phone for that.

Here is the great John James Audubon! He was a famous ornithologist and painter who spent his live studying American birds. I love birds! Roar! 

There are still a few open spaces left. I wonder if they'd ever consider letting a dinosaur into the Hall of Fame?

After leaving the Hall of Great Americans I decided to spend my solstice afternoon exploring northern Manhattan. Roar!