Things I saw on my walk yesterday

I forgot to mention these things in my entry last night:

--The Random House building. Looks like they're owned by the Bertelssman (sp?) group.
--The Conde Nast building, very near the public library.
--The public library, very near the Conde Nast building. I thought of getting a library card, but they were closed on Monday. Famous stone lions out front.
--I already mentioned the trumpet guy I ran into from my airplane.
--Saw the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Upper West Side and thought it had a very interesting name so I remembered to look it up when I got home. Turns out to be a middle school (is that what a Fieldston School is?). Little too late for that.
--Noticed that there are a lot of bad smells one encounters when walking the streets. Sewer and subway grates emit hot, foul odors. I also thought I smelled elephants several times when walking up Central Park West. Maybe horses? But I saw only one, and it would have been too far away to smell. Also caught a strange whiff of something chemical that reminded me of bad breath.
--Must have unwittingly walked right past Mayflower On the Park, a hotel I stayed in with my family several years ago. I'd been looking out for it the entire afternoon because I was sure it was on Central Park West, but I never saw it. Looked it up online and there it was!
--Was going to visit the Lincoln Center but got waylaid by a huge Barnes & Noble that turned out to have nothing I was looking for. All the books I wanted, save one, weren't in. What do they carry, anyway? Then I finally got around to the Lincoln Center, but, like many of the storefronts and buildingfronts I saw yesterday, it was covered in scaffolding and plywood for repairs and there wasn't an obvious entrance.
--Farther along I ran into the outdoor opening gala for Madama Butterfly at whatever huge venue it's playing in. There was a police cavalcade (is that the right word?) escorting someone important to it. Across the street some restaurant workers were picketing because their managers had been skimming off their tips. I read a little more about it in a news article someone was handing out copies of. I'd insert the link here but I can't find the article online.

I came away with some rather indistinct impressions of the city, based on my first day. I'd have a hard time describing them. I got a generally friendly feeling from most people, but most people kept to themselves. People selling stuff on the street and doormen in fancy apartment buildings in the Upper West Side were a little less friendly, but unintimidating. You have to watch out for dog shit wherever you step, and from the looks of it, a lot of people don't watch out well enough. There are lots of kids and lots of schools. Central Park seems to be a nice place to hang out. Streets are always packed, especially Midtown.