A Father's Promise Springs True

The father promised the kid, "first warm day I'm off of work, I'll take you down to the Drive with your new bike, we'll ride together." The kid's been itchy since Christmas Day when she got her first two-wheeler to take a real ride, not down the block in front of her house on 83rd Street off East End, a ride along the East River. The father's been working OT and weekends since November for the MTA - still reeling from Sandy's storm damage. Kid heard her father tell the mother, "Jeez, we need the money." The kid understands but she doesn't, 'I want to get on my bike.' 

Yesterday, Dad was off. It climbed to 54 degrees. Time. The kid and her father rode from 81st Street on the Drive all the way up to Harlem in the 120s and back down two times. Almost did it a third time but it was getting dark. The father promised to take the kid and their bikes over the 103rd Street Walk Bridge to Wards Island in the summer so they could circle Ward & Randalls Island, they'd bring sandwiches and view the skyline of Manhattan across the silver water. The kid smiled up at her father and thought to herself, 'I'm not gonna hold my breath on that one, but it sounds great.' Pictured above: the kid hitting her first puddle ever on the Drive inside Carl Schurz Park at 88th Street. She got muddy, didn't notice, and promised herself, 'In a few years, when I'm in 3rd grade, I'll come down the park by myself, all alone, and ride my bike until my legs turn numb. Yes, I will.'

If you are in West Village over the next six weeks, please stop by Cornelia Street Cafe and sit a spell. My first photo exhibition, "New York Scenes from a Bicycle," is on view through the end of March. 48 framed prints are for sale or just enjoy them. You can also buy my book, "River to River: New York Scenes from a Bicycle," at the Cafe or online at Amazon.

Visit my online gallery to view all the work from the Cornelia show and if you like you may prints there at a reasonable price. I plan to add more photographs in the late spring. In time, there will be albums dedicated to Yorkville "Now & Then", Carl Schurz Park, Central Park, The Hudson Seawall, Lower East Side, West Village, Rockaway Beach, and Coney Island.