williamsburg cinco de mayo (in pictures)

I spent my Cinco de Mayo in Williamsburg. The weather was perfect and I took a lot of photos. (As always on this blog, you can click the photo to go to its source. All photos in this post are from my flickr account.)



I started the day at Peter Luger's where I met some friends for hamburgers. Luger's has some truly delicious burgers.

Parting from my buddies, I wandered to the waterfront where I admired the beauty of the Williamsburg Bridge. It differs from NYC's other suspension bridges in two ways. First, its canted towers tilt towards the center of the bridge instead of going straight up. Second, only the center span is suspended by cables -- the approaches are supported from below by steel supports.







Walking north, I soon came to the Domino Sugar Refinery, an extremely endangered historic building. I'm worried it will meet the same fate as the Revere Sugar Refinery that was demolished earlier this year in Red Hook.



I managed to take one picture of the hulking factory as a spandex-clad cyclist zipped by on a recumbent bike.


Past the sugar refinery I was delighted to discover Grand Ferry Park, a tiny spot of public space on the waterfront I'd never been to before. Great people-watching.







Sneaking past a chain link fence, I found an abandoned dock on the riverfront side of a big warehouse. I think this crane is great.


Continuing into Greenpoint, I noticed this rusting contraption on the roof of a building. It reminded me of the Becher's industrial photography.


I made sure to swing by the ruins of the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse.



And I also checked out the Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory, which looks like it will be designated as a historic landmark soon.



Eventually I made it to the rooftop BBQ I'd been headed to all along. Great views of the city.