Where to Donate to Hurricane Harvey Victims - NY Times

A comprehensive list of where to donate to victims of Hurricane Harvey:

Where to Donate to Harvey Victims - NY Times

Photo Credit: The New York Times

Watching the Eclipse in Forest Hills

Well, that was a lot of fun! Forest Hills transformed into dozens of mini block parties on Monday as Forest Hills residents and workers stopped whatever they were doing and walked out of their apartments or offices to witness today's historic solar eclipse.

I was surprised to see so many people standing right in front of their apartment buildings to catch a glimpse of it, and clusters of people on every street corner. I figured people would congregate in MacDonald Park or somewhere like that locally, but there was barely any eclipse-viewing action at the Park. Nope, it was going on, well, everywhere!

(By the way, I took the photos of the eclipse by reversing the camera on my iPhone, thus the reflections in the photos from the glare. Better than nothing, and it actually worked better than I expected!)

Forest Hills - Henge

This evening's sunset on Austin Street....

Books and Whales

These news items from today are kinda of local interest.

First, the books. Amazon is opening a second bookshop in Manhattan. For all of you still missing B&N, who knows, one may be in our future, too, eventually....

And, as for the whales, there's this sad, and a bit unusual, story on Rockaway Beach today...

Another Local Hawk Sighting

Thanks to Matt (and his wife) for these photos. They spotted the hawk on the north side of Queens Blvd., near the corner of 72nd Ave. It looks very much like the one I found on my fire escape a few months ago....

November Surprise

So, I came home today to this magnificent creature on my fire escape. I assume it's a hawk of some kind. Does anyone know exactly what kind of bird it is? (And sorry for the graphic nature of the photo. Poor little squirrel.)

Trees!

I walked down to Metropolitan to see a movie yesterday and on the way back shot these pics of some of the gorgeous trees in the Gardens and nearby. The time of day and the less humid air that filtered into the area late yesterday had the sun highlighting them magnificently. Too often we forget to stop and really notice the simple beautiful things that are all around us. Luckily, those of use who live in and near Forest Hills have this magnificent landscape to appreciate.

Vivid sky over The Hills

Captured this amazing sky Friday evening over Queens Blvd.

More Forest Hills Spring Scenes

All photos courtesy of local Forest Hills photographer Yael Adas.

Supermoon Over Forest Hills

Here's a cute little Supermoon story for you all. After realizing my own just weren't hacking it, I sent out a tweet last night requesting Supermoon pics from readers. (Please still send them in to me, by the way, at edgeofthecity@gmail.com) One of the people who replied, @itskitti , sent me this gorgeous shot she took of the Supermoon over Queens Blvd.

Now, here's the cute part. Around the same time she was taking her photo, I was taking mine...

And it just so happened I was standing 8 floors below her, right outside her building. You can say it's just a coincidence, but I think I'll blame it on the moon...

Young Hawk on 72nd Ave.

Thanks to Stewart for sending in this photo of a young hawk on 72nd Ave. between Queens Blvd. and Austin St.

Summer by the Lake, in Forest Hills!

After years of waiting, Forest Hills now has access to a beautiful lake! The City has finally opened the gate to the entrance to the Willow Lake Trail. The entrance is located on the Grand Central Parkway service road at the corner of 72nd Road. Be advised, however, while the scenic beauty of the lake is now easily accessible the second you cross over the Grand Central Parkway footbridge, the trail around the lake is quite muddy in locations within minutes of beginning the walk, forcing me, in my sneakers, to halt my journey pretty quickly and decide to continue on another day with some waterproof Timberlands. The Forest Hills entrance is open weekends.

The entrance is at the corner of 72nd Road and GCP Service Road.

A close-up of the entrance, with the footbridge over Grand Central Parkway behind...

Within a minute, you go from this...

.... to this...

... and finally, this.. I can't tell you how cool it is to make that quick transition.

The trail then begins around the lake...

Starting out as a stone path...

If it wasn't for the sound of the nearby parkway cars, I'd never know I was in NYC...

... the trail quickly gets very muddy in spots, so be warned, bring hiking shoes. And enjoy!

Worrying...

Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms

A mysterious ailment appears to have expanded drastically in the past year, wiping out as many as half of the hives needed to pollinate much of America’s produce.