New York Daily Photo Analytics

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

CYA


I was visiting a New York City doctor once, and I queried him as to why a specialist I had been referred to had ordered a number of tests which seemed unnecessary. He quickly and casually responded, "Probably CYA." Embarrassed that I did not know the meaning of this acronym, which apparently was common knowledge, I was forced to ask what it meant, to which he responded: "Cover Your Ass", i.e. order the obligatory tests to protect oneself from possible malpractice. CYA is practiced by many organizations and professionals, notably in banking and journalism.

Eleventh Avenue is one of the twelve numbered avenues in Manhattan.
The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 established a grid In Manhattan, between 14th and 155th Streets. As part of this plan, sixteen numbered and lettered avenues were created, running north/south, parallel to the Hudson River: First through Twelfth Avenue. Where Manhattan bulges outward in the East Village, avenues A, B, C and D (Alphabet City) were created. On the the Upper East Side, Sutton Place/York Avenue was originally an extension of Avenue A.
Later, two avenues were sandwiched in between originals to the plan: Madison Avenue (between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue, formerly Fourth Avenue), and Lexington Avenue (between Park Avenue and Third Avenue).

It is unlikely that the visitor to New York City will ever visit Eleventh Avenue, apart from the Meatpacking district, where Eleventh Avenue starts or the Jacob Javits Convention Center.
What's happening on Eleventh? At one time, it was popularly known as "Death Avenue," owing to a section where the West Side Line of the New York Central Railroad ran directly along the avenue.

Today, there are a number of commercial establishments: the CBS Broadcast Center, Comedy Central studios, car washes, but, most notably, the largest concentration of auto dealers in Manhattan. If you are in the market for a Lamborghini, BMW, Jaguar, Mazda, Nissan, Acura, Lexus, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Spyker, Porsche, or Lotus, this is where to go. There are a couple of architectural gems like the striking Gehry-designed IAC building at 18th and Eleventh - see my story and photos here.

Why, you might ask, would I do a posting on such an innocuous and essentially nondescript thoroughfare which few will visit when there is so much more of inherent interest in Manhattan? Because there are things we must all do and, although this is not Wikipedia, I would be somewhat amiss if I did not do at least one posting in these pages on Eleventh Avenue. Or simply, just a case of CYA :)

4 comments:

dianasfaria.com said...

I couldn't wait to read how you were going to tie in the 'CYA'.
Very funny!
I can't remember what took me to this part of Manhattan some time ago but I found it interesting to see that was where the car dealers were. Up until that point I didn't think Manhattan had any.

Simon said...

Hi Brian,

OK - here is my yearly delurking comment to say thanks so much for this blog! It is these very posts that I like here rather than the usual pretty pictures of tourist stops/traps.

The background stories and interpretations which you add in the descriptions raises this from a pretty picture blog to something much better and more useful for future photo visits.

The sometimes mundane and sometimes ugly side of any place can be made interesting with perspective and local insight. You have mastered that rare art.

Simon

Anonymous said...

CYA "ii hhaavvee heard bbeeffoorree." replied the stutterer.

I enjoyed reading the post not to even mention the 12 inch shoes in yur previous post. WOW.

Mary P said...

Great, Brian, as usual!!!