River North Escapades
On Saturday afternoons in late Spring, you see some strange people roaming the streets. Wandering around River North today, I first heard someone screaming “Pope Leo” and similar phrases. Quickly turning, I saw a guy in a satin red robe whiz by on a scooter. A few minutes later he returned, riding in the opposite direction still screaming about the arrival of Pope Leo. Of course, he was wearing a bishop’s miter emblazoned with the White Sox logo.
[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]
Preaching Up and Down the Streets
But today wasn’t all laughs. Walking west on Chicago Avenue, I came across a sign above a mart memorializing Nate Bronstein, who forever will be 15. I wonder how many people pass the sign without its meaning registering.
On seeing the sign, I immediately recalled the tragic events. According to the website Buckets Over Bullying,
Nate’s bright future was cut short on January 13, 2022, when he died by suicide after facing severe cyberbullying by his peers. A group of classmates and basketball teammates at the Latin School of Chicago harassed and threatened Nate through a JV basketball group text and Snapchat, with one of the messages cruelly directing him to kill himself.
I don’t know for sure who placed the sign at the corner of Clark and Chicago Avenue, but I assume his parents were behind the decision. The pain they must continue to endure is made evident by that sign.
Remembering Nate Bronstein
River North includes several streets filled with art galleries, upscale furniture stores, and even an upscale marijuana dispensary. While walking, I encountered some interesting street art, as well as too many vacant storefronts.
One Banner After Another Banner
Signs of Chicago in a Doorway
Wires Hanging Overhead
The Rappers Are Out Today
Call 773-572-1700 if Interested in Buying or Leasing This Vacant Building
Hands Across a Wall (Green Rose Dispensary)
When I walk, I follow the light and the shadows, so I eventually found myself headed east toward LaSalle Street. I love motor hotels from the Fifties and Sixties; maybe because each night on family driving trips to Washington, D.C., Williamsburg, and Miami Beach, we always ended the day at a motor inn, often with an outdoor swimming pool. The Ohio House Motel first opened for business in December of 1960. The motel is squeezed onto its corner lot, but it has 48 rooms. The architects incorporated diamond shapes into its mid-century motif. This summer I plan to have lunch in its detached diner.
The hotel clearly is not as inexpensive as the roadside motels my family frequented in the Sixties. A quick look at the web revealed a room rate in the somewhere between $250 and $350 per night, which is inexpensive when compared to the St. Regis and Ritz Carlton.
Eats and Sleeps
Triangles Below the High Rises
You are “backstage” when standing on the LaSalle Street side of the Ohio House Motel. A variety of building facades jut upward, functioning like the rings on tree trunks. The city and its ever-evolving architectural styles reveal the passage of decades. On the other side of the cement, steel, and glass curtain, shoppers and tourists are marching up and down Michigan Avenue.
My inspiration for these photographs is the work of many Hong Kong photographers who have played with the geometry created by the city’s densely packed high rises.
Bank of America Outfront
Mickey D's Outfront
As I approach the Merchandise Mart, I encounter more furniture stores and the ‘L’ winding through River North. The contrast between light and shadow becomes more pronounced, as does the contrast between Chicago’s past and the modernism on display in showrooms adjacent to the Mart.
Before arriving at the Chicago River, I will make a stop at the East Bank Club, working out on a StairMaster for 40 minutes.
Modernism Under the 'L'
Breakable
The Train Cruising Under the Sun
Eventually, I arrive at the Chicago River; today at the point where a construction crew repairing the Kinzie Street Bridge on April 13, 1992, accidentally opened a hole in the wall of an abandoned utility tunnel, resulting in 250 million gallons of river water flooding the Chicago pedway. The basements of several Loop high rises and retail stores also were flooded, resulting in the evacuation of the Loop and the financial district. Power and gas transmission were cutoff. Trading at the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange was halted mid-morning. Some buildings had 40 feet of accumulated water in their basements. It took several days to drain the basements, resulting in the IRS granting a natural disaster exemption to people who missed the April 15th filing deadline.
The repairs cost $2 billion. Whether the building owners or their insurance companies would bear the losses depended largely on whether the incident was characterized as a “leak,’ or a “flood.” The courts ruled that it was a leak, which meant the insurance companies bore the loss.
One of the lawsuits spawned by the incident produced a decision by the United States Supreme Court in Jerome B. Grubart, Inc. v. Great Lakes Dodge & Dock Co., 513 U.S. 527, which held that because the vessel doing the work was on a navigable waterway, Great Lakes Dodge & Dock’s liability was determined under admiralty law, which greatly limited the liability of Great Lakes
Still Raised After All these Years (as Seen from the Kinzie Street Bridge)
After admiring the railroad bridge just south of the Kinzie Street Bridge, I worked my way east. Like a tourist, I photographed the scenic Chicago River as it divides the high rises lining both sides of the river.
A Gigantic Red Swirl
5:55 PM
Upward
Overwhelming the Riverwalk
Needing to get home for dinner and to watch episodes 6 and 7 of HBO’s The Penguin, I stopped for a moment to reflect on my afternoon walk.
Across the Street
But before closing, I should return to the beginning of my afternoon. Yes, I took a quick pass by the the Gold Coast Tesla dealership. As I had suspected, there were more cops than demonstrators outside the dealership. Many officers were seated in squad SUVs and standing across the street.
Well Past the Expiration Date (I)
Well Past the Expiration Date (II)
Copyright 2025, Jack B. Siegel, All Rights Reserved. Do Not Alter, Copy, Display, Distribute, Download, Duplicate, or Reproduce Without the Prior Written Consent of the Copyright Holder.
