7th Avenue
I walked 7th Avenue today, adding another 7 miles to the total.
Today's walk
7th Avenue is known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. ("ACPJ") Boulevard between 110th St. and 155th St. above Central Park. ACPJ began his career as a minister in Harlem, where he succeeded his father as Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church. A few years later he was elected to the New York City Council (the first African-American to do so), and in 1944 he became the first African-American Congressman from New York. Unfortunately, he also was also a little crooked. He once threatened to accuse Martin Luther King Jr. of being involved in a homosexual relationship for political ends and was criticized for serious misappropriation of funds (i.e. international trips with young female staffers). He was replaced by Charlie Rangel in 1970, and there have been no issues since.
South of Central Park, 7th Avenue runs through Midtown straight into the gaping maw of hell - Times Square. Formerly Longacre Square, Times Square is the area formed by the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue at 42nd street. It was renamed Times Square in 1903 after the New York Times relocated its headquarters to the intersection (the Times began the New Years Eve celebrations as well).
Hating Times Square isn't something New Yorkers do out of snobbery, it's objectively bad - approaching it on foot produces a type of dread that can only be described in German: "UnausweichlicheKlebrigEinkaufsviertelAlptraum". New York is full of stunning architecture, world-class museums, amazing food, a host of unique entertainment options, and more American history than you can shake a stick at. Yet people still insist on wasting time in this place. If you think about it, at its core Times Square is really just five crowded blocks of pop-up ads and stripmall stores. Seriously, go into Google Streetview and plop yourself down on 7th Avenue between 45th St. and 44th St.; you'll see a Toys R Us, Foot Locker, Sunglass Hut, Swatch store, Aeropostale, Levi's store, and a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Why did you come to New York to shop at the same stores you shop at at home? (Only more crowded and with a higher electric bill!)
