Highline Park and a little star struck...

So after my extreme lie-in this morning, Shannon came and met me at my place. Because of the recent shuffling of train service on my line, I freaked out and thought, after I had told Shannon to take the D, that she wouldn't be able to get here and that she'd be stuck at the station either pondering when the train was coming or how else she would get here. But luckily, the Manhattan-bound D train is occasionally (usually during non-rush hours) running on the N track from Stillwell Av to 36 St. This would not have been a problem for her as she was coming from Bay Ridge and needed to take the R to 36 St and then the Coney Island-bound D down one stop to 9th Av. Coney Island-bound D trains are running normal now. For weeks whenever there was a service change though it was the Coney Island-bound D that was running on the other track.

I can hear some of you saying how glad you are that you don't live here. Though, I always think, whenever I want to complain about the MTA, at least I'm not driving and I don't have to park my car and pay for gasoline, insurance and tolls.

Anyway, Shannon got here around 2:00pm and we strolled to Sunset Park so I could show her my view. However, the mist was far too think for any such activity so she just had to use her imagination. We went back to my place then, grabbed her bag and hit the subway to head into Manhattan because I got a crazy idea while I was waiting for Shannon to get here. I got paid today so I had my excuse to go into work: getting my pay stub...okay so I didn't really need it but it seemed like a good enough excuse to go upstairs and try and glimpse the film set that had taken over the newsroom.

As Shannon and I were crossing 9th Avenue to get to the Chelsea Market we spotted Rachel McAdams crossing the crosswalk (I couldn't help getting a little excited at this point. Apparently they had all of the actors' trailers parked along 16th street between 8th and 9th Aves).

We ate lunch in the Chelsea Market at a place called Bowery Eats. My sandwich had far too much of this offensive wasabe mustard that burned my tongue and at one point came out of my nose.

I had called Luis, my manager, before hand to get an idea of the scene upstairs and if it would be all right if I brought Shannon up with me. He said that if the guard gave me any trouble to let him know. All we had to do was sign Shannon in and then we went in.

The bright daylight simulating lights were pouring in through the windows from the rooftop of the building and the halls were all cluttered with stacks and stacks of film equipment and production assistants (the production assistants were not in stacks, just the equipment). I made my way down the hall, keeping my eyes peeled for activity and making sure not to walk into anything related to the filming. I made it to the room where I usually work and a few people, my manager included, were standing facing the window to the newsroom and gawking at all the activity.

They were shooting a scene where Rachel McAdams, back upstairs now, was walking across the newsroom and trying to open the office door where Harrison Ford was sitting. I don't think they were shooting the office scene just yet so I'm not too sure whether or not Harrison Ford was in there or not. The rest of us who were watching had cameras out and kept trying to get a shot of Rachel as she walked by our window. After a while, I felt like a tool and put my camera away and tried to make my way upstairs to actually get my pay stub. Shannon and I had to squeeze through the back hallway filled with film canisters and a dozen grips and PAs and past the track they had set up for the dolly.

Loads of excitement for one day. In the end, however, the only photo I got that rumored of a film shoot was this one:



After we left the Chelsea Market, I cooked up the idea of going to the riverside, despite the mist, and walking along Riverside Park. Before we could get out there though, I turned and noticed people up on the elevated rail and it hit me, the new Highline Park they've been talking about is open. The old Highline railroad that ran parallel to 10th Avenue was in danger of being demolished and instead they lobbied to make it into a park, preserving most of the old track and allowing wild plants to grow along the length of the park in addition to planted trees. Observe:

Highline Park

And also watch this vid:



And add to all this, I have another friend coming in to town this weekend plus a friend who lives in town got an extra comp ticket to see Coraline tomorrow night in the West Village. I'm excited! I'll let you know how it goes.