Hey everyone -

If you’re interested in taking a tour of the incredible Valencia Movie Palace, the Tabernacle of Prayer church will be conducting a tour on Saturday, May 25th, at 11 AM. Space is by appointment only – contact Sister Forbes at 718-657-4210 ext. 20 to sign up. This is 100% set in stone, so if you’re on the list, you will definitely get to see the space in full.

Also, if you attend, might I suggest making a donation to the church? The former theater has been immaculately maintained for decades now in a way that is simply staggering, and large or small, I’m sure they would appreciate anything you could offer.

-SCOUT

I’ve been doing a lot of scouting in the Bronx recently, which is great because it’s the borough I know the least and I keep finding interesting little things at every turn. Case in point, I was driving down St. Lawrence Avenue last week…

…when I passed by this house:

Now, at first glance, you could easily drive by without noticing anything unusual about it. But when you take the time to stare at it – I mean, really stare it – all of a sudden, it starts to look as if someone had the correct pieces of a normal house, but put them together in completely the wrong order:

>>>Continue reading “Is This The Weirdest House In New York City?”

Saw this in a Bronx apartment building:

I love the idea that so many people were riding outside of the elevator car, they needed to put up this sign. How do you even do that??

-SCOUT

Ha, OK, this is the strangest thing. Last week, I was driving around the east side of the Bronx when I found myself in a nice residential area…

I happened to look up and notice the street sign:

Huh. Ampere Ave. Sort of an unusual street name for a residential neighborhood. For those (like myself) who have forgotten their basic high school science, an ampere, or amp, is the term for a unit of electric current.

Curious, I slowed at the next intersection to see what the cross street was…and I have to say, it gave me quite a charge..

>>>Continue reading “At The Corner of Ampere & Ohm In The Bronx (Yes, This Intersection Actually Exists!)”

Last week, I was scouting around the Bronx’s Country Club neighborhood, when I happened to turn down Clarence Ave, a nice residential street…

…and a little house caught my eye off to the side:

From a distance, it seemed like an ordinary enough house…

But wait…were those miniature medieval turrets on each corner??

>>>Continue reading “How To Turn Your House Into A Castle”

As a follow-up to Tuesday’s post about the now defunct Putnam train line, reader Wiscogirl emailed to say that a rare picture of the Van Cortlandt train stop in its heyday is currently up for sale on Ebay. Here’s the station today…

…and in 1963, a few years after passenger service ended:

I have to say that the above picture is really quite a haunting shot. The bid for the picture is currently at $3.50, for anyone interested!

-SCOUT