Riverside...

It's interesting the climate differences on the east side of the U.S. compared to the west. The atmosphere here is much more humid and the climate is consistent and cool. Spring here seems so much more green and lasts a lot longer compared to what I grew up with. It's very therapeutic to go walking through the parks and enjoy the beautiful nature that seems impossible to exist in such a city.

One of my favorite things to do in the morning is get up early and go running in Riverside Park. It's only a block from my house. Look how gorgeous it is!

One of my favorite things about NYC is all the history that exists out here. I've been reading up on the history of the City Beautiful Movement and how the city works hard to keep New York a beautiful place to live. The following is an excerpt from the Riverside Park website.

"With the beginning of the City Beautiful Movement in the early twentieth century, the landscape evolved. The Park began to serve as a repository for monuments and sculptures exalting the city’s heroes, and its border was extended north to 155th Street. F. Stuart Williamson designed the extension with its decorative viaduct, castle-like retaining walls and grand entry ensembles. In 1937, during Robert Moses’ administration, the Park underwent another growth phase, with the addition of 132 acres of land along the entire expanse of the Park. In planning the new area, landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke and architect Clinton Loyd focused on the recreational needs of the city. After more than a half century of development, a park combining nineteenth and twentieth century landscape ideals was created. Its beauty was recognized in 1980, when the section from 72nd to 125th Street was designated a scenic landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission."