I have been in Brooklyn NY recently to see my great nephew and meet his new baby brother, just born! The spring blossom was starting to come out, a little bit later than ours, bright green leaves slowly unfurling on the trees. We were busy with the baby but I managed a few little sketches. The first one a quick pen drawing of a view from Fort Greene Park, across to Manhattan, with a glimpse of the new Freedom Tower on the left. I hadn’t got my bearings quite right and wrote at the bottom of the page, ‘Freedom Tower NY and Williamsburg Bridge, I think,’  but my mistake, it is the Manhattan Bridge!

I cycled around Central Park one Saturday afternoon, looking for ‘my’ tree. A little bendy tree near the steps up to the Chess and Chequers House, that I had drawn before a couple of times. I couldn’t find it, but on closer inspection I discovered a stump where the tree had stood. I felt a bit sad, but went off to find another view to sketch. I found these lovely cherry blossom trees and I sat back to front on a bench to draw. The big dark grey building on the right with a white border is the Solow Building, at 9 West 57th Street.

On my last day in NY I got the ferry across to Wall Street and walked down to Battery Park. It was very cold, but I found an amazing view looking towards the new Freedom Tower with this wonderful bendy cherry tree, and an old apartment block, with something written across the top. When I got too cold to sit sketching any longer I got up and walked towards the building and looking up, I could see what it said, ’19 Rector Street’.