The Arconia

Since Lukey and Kenzie are totally engrossed in the television series, "Only Murders in the Building" by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, I surprised them by sneakily guiding them to the doorstep of this famous architectural landmark while we were visiting Manhattan.  

In the show, this large apartment building is called "The Arconia" but its real name is "The Belnord".

We took the subway uptown on the premise that we would walk back through Central Park and taking the subway uptown would save us half the walking.  That actually was part of the plan because there were many things I wanted to show them in Central Park but I specifically chose this spot to start our walk southward because I knew they would enjoy seeing "The Arconia".

I think they enjoyed riding the subway but they definitely stood out as tourists due to their incessant questions that made them stand out as not being at all familiar with the subway, the stops or even the area.  At every stop, they would ask, "Is this our stop?"...  "How many more stops do we have?"  

I don't mind them asking questions because I do like educating them but I wasn't all that comfortable being trapped in a crowded subway car with them indicating to everyone around us that we were tourists.  That is not much different than putting a big sign on your back stating, "Please mug us".

I managed to capture some motion in the subway as it quickly pulled into the station while keeping everything else in sharp focus...

As we slowly made our way back up to street level from the subway (we hobbled up the stairs slowly because of Lukey's crutches), I knew we would be coming up to street level right at The Belnord which is where we wanted to be but I didn't want the kids to notice it right away.  I wanted to surprise them.

When we got to street level, I looked around in an attempt to get my bearings.  A very nice older, well-dressed woman with a cane and dressed in a stylish hat approached and politely asked if she could help me find something.  I didn't want to say what I was actually searching for because I didn't want the kids to hear so I politely said, "Oh...  no, thank you...   I am just trying to get my bearings...  thanks again!"

I noticed that we were on the same exact corner as The Belnord (otherwise known as The Arconia on the television show) so the building was directly on our left.  I didn't want the kids to notice the building yet so, as we were walking toward the main entrance that I knew they would notice, I directed their attention to the right toward the building across the street.  

As we walked, I asked, "Do you recognize that building?" as I pointed across the street.  This building across the street was actually in the show too but it was only shown a few times in a couple of flashback scenes.  They kept looking at the building across the street but said they didn't recognize it.

When we got to the front gates of The Belnord, I stopped walking, pointed to the front gates that were now behind them and said, "Do you recognize this building?"

Their eyes popped wide open as they said, "YES!  The Arconia!"

We only walked a couple of blocks before Lukey was behaving oddly.  He seemed to suddenly lose all energy.  He seemed deflated and even a bit agitated.  Every few feet he would ask, "How much farther do we need to go?"  

This wasn't good because we weren't even in Central Park yet and we had a mile to go once we were in the park.  Once we were in the park, we were committed to walking.  

At the time, I chalked this odd behavior up to having only sugary French Toast and sugary maple syrup for breakfast lacking enough protein for a day of walking.  Regardless of the true reason for his complaining about being exhausted, it was clear we needed to get back on the subway and head back to the hotel.  He did not have the energy to walk through half of Central Park.  

It wasn't until a couple of days later when I, myself, developed COVID symptoms that I made a few connections to Lukey's behavior on this day.

Earlier that same day, we went to Bryant Park first thing in the morning so Sheila and Kenzie could skate for an hour or so.  Lukey and I sat at rinkside while I shot photos and video.  It was a rather cold and breezy morning so we sat there all bundled up.  I was busy shooting photos but Lukey was just sitting there watching people skate.  Eventually, he told me he was freezing so I packed up my gear and we walked around the park a few times in an attempt to warm him up.  I figured that getting him moving like I was moving while shooting photos would warm him up.  He never did warm up even though we were dressed appropriately for the weather.  Unfortunately, I didn't make any connections to possible health issues at the time.  Simply being cold while sitting out in the cold wasn't enough for me to make a connection to a possible health concern.

At the time, I didn't think much of him being so cold and we kept moving along with our schedule.  In hindsight now that I have tested positive for COVID and I, too, was freezing when my symptoms first appeared, I think he may have had a fever and was fighting off COVID.

Here he is all bundled up at Bryant Park while I was shooting photos...

If he had told me of just one more symptom in addition to being very cold...  ie, sore throat, headache...  it is highly likely that I would have made a connection indicating he might be sick and not feeling well enough to be walking around in the cold. 

So, when Lukey lost all energy after visiting The Belnord/Arconia, we had to forego our plans for the rest of the afternoon.  This means we now had no chance to show the kids some of the well-known sites in Central Park.  Instead, everyone took a nap and then we went out to dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant across the street from Bryant Park.

On the positive side, Lukey and Kenzie got to see the upper west side of Manhattan and The Arconia from "Only Murders in the Building"!