More stories from the Big Apple

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Philanthropy is alive and well in NYC, the Frick Museum being a great example. And one of the Aussies we met at the 4 July party the other night has a job whose sole purpose is to raise money from those who have plenty of it to fund free public schools - check out the KIPP:NYC webpage for details. Vicki, who works on this project, told me that any rich New Yorkers who aren't philanthropic are considered strange.

By the same token you see much poverty just walking the streets, passing homeless people on your travels, no doubt exacerbated by the Global Financial Crisis. It is especially distressing when it's young people and women with children. When we were wandering around Battery Park we gave some money to a couple who were collecting money for a soup kitchen, fining people for smiling and the like; a novel way to go about such an enterprise!

And there are two things New Yorkers can't seem to have enough of, dogs and nail salons. Just about everyone in NYC seems to own a dog and one in every four businesses seems to be a manicure, pedicure and beauty salon. There are of course many restaurants too so that if we wished we could eat somewhere different each night and still be within walking distance of our charming little apartment.

As I write this on Sunday evening we have Grace staying overnight with us one again. And this morning, as Kev wanted to watch the men's Wimbledon tennis final and the British Grand Prix Rupert stayed in the apartment with Grandpa to watch both these sporting events while Kerrii, Seb. Grace & I caught the subway downtown. First stop, Strand Book Store on the corner of 828 Broadway and East 12th in the East Village and boasting 18 miles of books. I was reminded of visiting Powell's Book Store in Portland, Oregon with you Martha! We then walked to Washington Square Park - one of the best known of NYC's 1,900 public parks - in Greenwich Village where Kev & Rupert met us, all sporting events finished. It's a lovely park, filled with families enjoying themselves, people cooling off in the fountain, a jazz band serenading us at one end of the park and a pianist at the other.

Then it was off to walk some of the High Line which originally ran trains above the streets from 34th to Spring Street. When, in the 1980's after the trains had stopped running, the High Line was threatened with demolition a group of local residents founded "Freinds of the High Line". Beautification of the High Line was born and finally in 2009 Section 1 was opened to the public with Section 2 opening in 2011. Now it's a popular tourist attraction and a fantastic way to see some of the city. A little gem you must visit I'd you are in NYC.

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