Fleet Week

Monday was the last day of Fleet Week (May 25-30), an annual event since 1984, with thousands of sailors, marines and Coast Guardsmen participating and hitting the streets of NYC while on leave, like the two in the photo. They arrived on eleven large ships, berthed at piers in Manhattan and Staten Island. The ships were available for boarding by the public, with the crew providing tours.

Events were planned daily, including a Parade of Ships, flyovers by jets, helicopter demos, music bands, parades etc., but boarding the ships has been the big draw for most of the public and the lines were blocks and hours long. Of course not everyone is thrilled with the military presence and their activities ....

Mars Bar

Mars Bar is what many consider the quintessential NYC dive bar. Located in the East Village at 1st Street and 2nd Avenue, this punk rock place is covered with graffiti/trash art inside and out. It's a hold out against the rapid gentrification all around it. Here are some very candid recent reviews by patrons, which should help you decide if this is your kind of place. I took a short video while inside...

The Boathouse Restaurant

The Boathouse Restaurant is located on The Lake in Central Park. This is one of my favorite spots in NYC; when the weather is right, this spot is absolutely idyllic and bucolic. Tables on the terrace are a wonderful place to have a meal. Although a little pricey, I would highly recommend it if you can get a table. Rowboats are available for rent nearby, as are rides on genuine Venetian gondolas. Centrally located in the park at 72nd Street, it's the perfect location for exploring Central Park, which is a world unto itself...

Totem

For graffiti Sunday, we have a view into a parking lot on a small street in the East Village, where it seems that a lot of different objects are being saved for some yet to be determined future use.
The graffiti against the wall and up the iron stair is pretty indecipherable as writing, but the visual impact of the glowing color seems to tie everything together into a worn collage made of "found" objects. Almost like an art installation put together with elements hoarded by the neighborhood.

Move Along, Nothing to See Here

On the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we have a continuation of the previous post on the theme of cruelty to reptiles in NYC. This sculpture - Move Along, Nothing to See Here by Cai Guo-Qiang is one of two life size of crocodiles suspended on bamboo poles overlooking Central Park, with the exclusive residential buildings of Central Park West as a backdrop. They are stuck with sharp objects actually confiscated by airport security. Closeup photo here.

There are many different ways to view this piece, so we will leave its interpretation to you. This roof garden is open late Fridays and Saturdays, and is something of a singles scene. Drinks are served ...

Snake Charmer

Here's a character that suddenly appeared draped with a gigantic snake, a large macaw, and a small alligator in his suitcase. His schtick was that he would charge to have your picture taken with them, the prices based on what you wanted to have in the photo - he offered all three to a woman for $15 - she seemed pleased to have the snake draped around her (see video here). At first charming, it soon became very exploitative of everyone concerned, including the animals; he was offering to sell snakes for $250. With concerns about exotic animals being taken from their natural habitats, this seems a questionable livelihood, but we wanted to show you this as a classic if extremely flamboyant example of a typical big city hustle. There's been much written about the classic NYC hustles and scams, some of which are still practiced today exactly the same way as in the 19th century on the same street corners. Perhaps in another era this fellow would have been an organ grinder with a monkey...

Snack Shacks

Lately we have noticed various types of snack shacks downtown. These structures are frequently attached to another storefront, like a garden shed. One was next to a building with red climbing roses around it. They are like the roadside stands you used to see near the beach or in the country selling pies and flowers - a little piece of the country set down in town. Two such examples, Snack Dragon and Juicy Lucy (photo right) serve slightly more elaborate food. You can eat casually careening on your travels around town, especially if you don't have time to stop for anything much, are on your way to work or are visiting the city and want to keep your restaurant expenditures down. They make a variety of things: good strong American coffee, lemonade, tacos, breakfast sandwiches etc. It's interesting that people are finding ways to serve fast food in NYC that utilizes good ingredients and does not equate to "junk" food. It's certainly a step in the right direction ...

Gem Spa

Gem Spa is one of those real classic New York places. In business 70 years, located at St. Marks Place and 2nd Ave. in the East Village, this place would certainly not stand out as anything special to the visitor or non-resident (an online search will bring up numerous articles and reviews). It is a newspaper stand/magazine shop/soda fountain - and at one time, before the spate of magazine cafes and super bookstores, it's extensive selection was a rarity. And they are renowned as the last place serving an authentic New York egg cream soda, the origins of which are still debated. If you haven't had one, go there and have an unpolished NYC experience. Here's a peek inside ...

Caught!

We've been having a lot of intermittent rain showers lately and these folks got caught in a huge downpour and ran. Gray Line has been running sightseeing bus tours for over 75 years. They're now offering over 40 Hop On Hop Off tours of Manhattan and Brooklyn in various package deals from $20 to over $100, some even including helicopter tours. The open upper level of the double decker buses appears to be the preferred seating unless it rains - then you had better put on your free raincoat and run inside because this is New York and there's no refund for you :) ....

ABC No Rio

This was taken in front of ABC No Rio, a large artist's collective on Rivington Street, well known for decades for political activism and its drive to be a community social center, combining art, music, poetry and intense activism on many political and economic issues affecting local residents. They have been one of the major centers for the performance of spoken word/poetry slams and host a regular weekend matinee show of indie punk thrash metal music, amongst many other activities. We were passing by during one of the concerts and we could hear the music a block away. They are surrounded by the changing demographic of the neighborhood, which is now becoming a place of fashionable and expensive restaurants and designer stores, in spite of the deliberately grungy aesthetic that is embraced. The front of the building, whose ownership has been in dispute all along, is decorated with salvaged metal parts and murals depicting moments of nihilistic despair, somewhat ironic because the general aims of the organization are very optimistic - art studio access for everyone, fair and affordable housing and educational outreach to the unfortunate, such as prisoners. More photos here...

Graffiti

In some places in New York, such as the subway, graffiti is cleaned off and trains are guarded as much as possible against its recurrence of graffiti. In other places, like the Lower East Side, as seen for example on this corner of 2nd Avenue and 1st Street, it has flourished in its present incarnation. The community seems to embrace it as a signal and an identifier of the neighborhood's outlaw past. In the eighties, there were many small galleries in the East Village and they often showed graffiti artists, popularizing the aesthetic to where it has now become accepted by many as a classic form of art.

Friendship

This doorway over La Maison Francaise on Fifth Avenue at 50th Street symbolizes the friendship between America and France. It was created by the French sculptor Janniot and finished in 1933 during the depths of the Depression era. Gilded and intricate, it is one of the many decorations incorporated in the building facades. It was designed with the hope of attracting overseas investment and to entice tenants to newly built Rockefeller Plaza complex. Now it graces the opening of a somewhat generic retail space, but we are still reaping the benefit of the past's ambitious and very individual aesthetic depicting as much beauty and amity it was possible to pack into the finite area over an office building entrance. Full view here.

I Love New York

Unexpectedly, I ran into this film crew shooting a new commercial series for an I Love New York PR campaign, a slogan which the city has been using to promote itself since way back when. They say they intend to put more emphasis on celebrating the "ordinary people's " New York. This particular one will show a breakdancing group, Full Circle, performing in front of the Washington Square Arch, referring, we suppose, to the many performers that use Washington Square Park as a stage, who all attempt to be compelling enough to stop traffic. Luckily, the timing was right and I was able to capture some video of the dancers...

Bigelow

Bigelow Chemists is the oldest pharmacy in the country, located in the Village on 6th Avenue near 8th Street in a Beaux-Arts building (here's a link with photos, history and story). It's a pleasure to go in - they specialize in very high quality and hard to find products for the skin, hair, fragrance for the home and small luxury items for everyday life. They continue as a true apothecary, making their own line of remedies and filling prescriptions. They cultivate relationships with their customers over years, an unusual practice in this type of business nowadays, getting to know the local residents. People come in to browse, take in the atmosphere and try on the samples. Perhaps this is overly enthusiastic for a simple drugstore, but they have preserved an atmosphere that opens the door to the past and the senses simultaneously.

Note: Here's a link to Indieperfumes which goes into these sorts of topics in depth ...

Petanque

I love watching petanque in the shade on a warm sunny day. It's so relaxing and I feel transported to Provence, where the game originated. These courts in Washington Square Park are quite busy in nice weather and home to La Boule New Yorkaise, a local club which also plays in Bryant Park and Central Park. What's interesting is that although they are centrally located in a such a small and heavily used park, it is easy to overlook them, and most people are probably not aware of their existence. I know nothing of the game, but in observing I have noted a lot of French being spoken, so I would imagine this is quite serieux ...

Dog Dating

LeashesandLovers is a group that puts on events for NYC dog owners - singles looking to meet other dog owners or social events for dog lovers who want to meet each other on a friendly networking basis. Seems like they run an event in the downtown area every other weekend. Here's a link to their organization with upcoming planned events, including videos of their parties. They appear to draw a rather attractive young crowd. They also have indoor events at various bars and restaurants that permit dogs, and hiking events and other outdoor socials. This event was held in Washington Square Park - see more photos here. This lady's dog is the soul of patience, permitting her to put shoes and socks on along with the sailor suit. Some much prefer to go au naturale...

Missionaries Meet Their Match

For me, this was New York at its best. An organization called the Catholic Evidence Guild had set up in the park with a table, literature, a podium, bibles and a crucifix to spread the word and convert. However, even though this was the street and one would not expect to be confronted with any real challenge to the seasoned Christian, this is New York and you had better be prepared for anything - eccentrics, cranks, derelicts, students, academics etc. And anything they got - see here. Ira , who it turns out was a Jewish professor, studied at Fordham University, spent several years in Israel, was fluent in Hebrew and knew the Bible inside out. An Ecuadorian, whom I also spoke with, was also extremely articulate and knowledgeable. And there were others in the mix, all holding their own. All with a rock group performing nearby. As the afternoon wore on, the dialog became very spirited but the Catholics became less vocal - and I started wondering, who was converting whom? Enjoy the VIDEO!

Hair Wraps

Today was such a surprise and joy at many levels. For one, it was supposed to be cloudy with rain - instead we had beautiful sunshine all day. I was on the way out of my neighborhood, but ended completely ensnared for the entire day by the various events going on in Washington Square Park - there was a Dog Dating event being filmed, a rock concert, numerous performers, acrobats and singers, boule players, champion chess playing and more (for Monday I will bring you something really cool with a video). I have seen the fellow in the photo nearly everyday, but this was the first time I have seen him with a "client" in his ground level salon with garbage can as backdrop. I can't attest to his skill, I know nothing of hairwraps. But I imagine along with her chest tattoos, she will adequately adorned. Here are more views of the procedure.

Shrouded Secrets

It seems that NYC is in constant repair. It's hard to walk far without seeing scaffolding as buildings repoint, repaint, resurface, rewindow or re-something. And this scaffolding can be up for years at a time. This remarkable building at 565 Broadway, originally 5 stories, is a marble-fronted Palladian palazzo built in 1859-60, unique for the SOHO cast iron district (note the striking buildings surrounding it. More images from an architecture company). It's gray shrouded fabric and wooden water tower, were particularly dramatic on this cloudy day. This building has an interesting and varied history (from the NYTimes). It was used for the filming of the first season of MTV's Real World New York. Walls between two apartments were torn down to make a huge 4 bedroom apartment (article and photo).

Canal Rubber

In a way, Canal Street is NYC at its best and worst. On a hot summer day, with the grit, grime, trash, crowds and traffic it is really is quite abhorrent. Yet it is and has been home to some of the cities truly unique and really useful merchants, not just catering to tourist traffic. Some of the stores are (or were) real meccas: Pearl Paint (5 stories of art supplies), Electric Trading (motor and fan suppliers), Industrial Plastics (just out of business), Canal Hardware (out of business), along with jewelry, Chinatown, street vendors, counterfeit consumer products, electronics, lighting supplies, surplus metals, audio equipment, etc. (and there is plenty of cheap schlock too). One of my favorites is Canal Rubber. I doubt there is another place like it in the country with its amazing inventory of rubber goods displayed at retail. The service can be brusk "New York style" - understandable with the tremendous volume of customers, many of them unknowledgeable about rubber and what they want or need. They have been in business since 1954, serving industrial and retail customers. These independent specialty shops are what have made New York so remarkable and sadly are fast disappearing. If you are in New York City, I recommend a stroll down Canal Street. But be forewarned - this is a FUNKY place, not one that is polished or glamorous.

The Subway

Most of us take the subway every day and many of us spend a lot of time underground. It can be a time to read, or it can be very noisy, slow and stressful. It is one of the givens of NYC that you never know what you are going to get when you walk into a station. There is a nicely restored old fashioned one at Astor Place. The conditions vary from station to station considerably; the rush is the same everywhere.. The good thing is that it is open 24 hours, 7 days a week and $2 will get you anywhere in the far-flung system. This helps to keeps the city open all hours, to make it "the city that never sleeps". Some stations have been renovated and art commissions have been installed (here is a mysterious mosaic of a child's game of marbles, underground at 42nd St and 7th Ave.). Some stations have never been renovated or are poorly maintained (like this grungy crypt at 14th St. and 7th Ave.) If it weren't for the trains, NYC could not exist. People who live in the outer boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island all use public transportation to get to their jobs; most in Manhattan do also. Even so, there is a particular brand of New Yorker who prides themselves on never setting foot in the trains. They take cabs or refuse to lead the kind of life that deals with rush hours...

Big and Beautiful?

There are areas in the city where you find gigantic depictions of beautiful women on advertising billboards, often half naked, contrasting against the hard rectangular buildings and the rest of the environment. In a way, they are humanizing the environment, in another way they can be alienating, because their message of perfect glamour is so insistent; or sometimes they even look like they don't belong where they are. I guess it may all depend on one's mood.
This one is near the Roosevelt Island tram and the 59th Street Bridge, so oncoming cars and people standing on the tram and the platforms over the street will see her. The branches have softened and integrated her somewhat. Here are two more examples near Houston Street. One is more daring than most since the model is close to exposing her entire breasts (not done in the U.S. in public advertising). The other shows a model's face, duplicated and inverted - integrating it into the architecture it adorns and acts as an ad for.

Boat Basin

Not far from Lincoln Center, on the west side along the Hudson River and Riverside Park is the 79th Street Boat Basin, built in 1937, originally for yachts and now home to many houseboats and recreational boats. Some tenants live there to escape the high costs of housing in Manhattan. There's a cafe (the Boat Basin Cafe) which is open in the warm weather set into arches facing the River (see right side of photo), which is worth trying if you come to this part of city. The views and the crowds of neighborhood people out enjoying themselves make it a very enviable spot; otherwise, it's just a basic bar that serves a very simple lunch, brunch, and dinner. The pedestrians, runners, baby carriages, dogs, rollerskaters (all on the Greenway) and people watching them go by from the benches show a good cross section of the typical Upper West Side neighborhood residents. More photos here ...

Drowned Alive

David Blaine is a controversial magician who has turned performance artist with acts involving extreme privation, enacted in public places. More popular in NYC than anywhere else, thousands have come to visit him as he lives submerged in a sphere of water for seven days in the plaza at Lincoln Center. For the finale on Monday night, he will perform before a live TV audience, bound in chains underwater while holding his breath for more than nine minutes as he breaks free (hopefully).

All this week, the crowds around him were lining up to pass close to him, with many trying to communicate with him, holding up pictures and cards, and touching the glass of his tank. He seemed to be very happy for the company and the attention, interacting in a mime-like way with his public. Here are more photos, a link to his website, which has many articles and photos, and a video:

Ansonia Hotel

The Ansonia Hotel is one of the most notable and fascinating buildings in NYC. Located in the Upper West Side on Broadway and 73rd Street, it was built between 1899 and 1904. It is enormous with 2500 rooms and is one of the most European looking buildings with its striking Beaux-Arts facade and Parisian styled Mansard roof and corner turrets. Babe Ruth, Theodore Dreiser, Igor Stravinsky, Enrico Caruso, Arturo Toscani, Yehudi Menuhin, and Tony Curtis are just a few of its many prominent guests and residents of the past. There is much wonderful history about this building - it makes great reading (article with more photos). It was converted to condominiums in 1992.

Mister Softee

It was over 80 degrees (Farenheit) today which means the Mr. Softee ice cream trucks were out, even in Manhattan, in full force. You can get their soft ice cream in a cone, or other brands, like ice cream on a stick, popsicles, ice cream sandwiches, something called "the rocket." The tiny colored candy sprinkles always look very enticing. They have a distincitive song they play to attract customers (hear it on their site) which some people associate with the sounds of summer, and which drives other people crazy with its repetitiveness. If they park outside your apartment window and blast it for awhile, you might become one of those crazed people. Some have even tried to pass legislation against it. So you see we have our traditions, which some might associate with the small town or suburb, here in the metropolitan center.

Love Saves The Day

This place in the East Village on Second Avenue has been around since it first became the fun thing to wear nostalgic clothing ironically. They've now expanded their holdings to memorabilia, vintage toys and accessories, layer upon layer, decade upon decade. They have a rather fierce sign at the door, "unattended children will be sold into slavery" probably because it would be the perfect place for kids to go wild, play dress up and pretend, endlessly. Every inch is covered with old cocktail and prom dresses, antique toys, references to and memorabilia of famous rock and roll figures from times gone by (inside photo). Madonna shopped here for the look she wore in her first movie - the tattered lace glove and rosary as jewelry look. Rents having risen astronomically, so they will be moving at the end of this year around October, to another location somewhere along East Seventh Street. So, if you get the chance to visit before that, you will experience the original LSD in all it's overheated and psychedelic glory. Kind of doubt they will be able to reproduce quite the effect they have grown here over decades...
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Music Speaks For Itself

New York City is a dynamic place and like most cities is defined by activity. I frequently shoot short video clips when taking photos for NYDP. In many situations it is difficult to really convey an activity with a still photograph, so today I would like to introduce video to the city daily photo blogs (I will do this from time to time as appropriate). I ran across two guys (Jason Dehenzel and his partner) in Washington Square Park drumming on cans and other objects, a not unusual urban activity, but these guys were GREAT. One said he wanted to audition for Stomp. So, let the music speak for itself...

Winter Garden

Very close to the site of the former World Trade Center is the World Financial Center and Winter Garden atrium which was severely damaged in the disaster. 2000 panes of glass, about half of the arched ceiling, were shattered when the towers came down. The gigantic palm trees and everything else inside the Winter Garden were covered with very thick dust, shards of glass and an acrid smoke, leaving it dark and eerie. It has been completely restored - palm trees were replaced, along with marble flooring and half the grand staircase. The atrium greenhouse-like space has become a major venue for very interesting concerts which are free but ticketed. If you are visiting NYC it would be worth your while to check the schedule. Last season we went to a tribute of Bruce Springsteen's 1982 Nebraska album, played by a wide range of indie musicians, with flavors of everything from rockabilly country music to Indian sitar inspired guitars. It turned out the famously reclusive rock star was in the audience with his wife, standing around, enjoying the concert anonymously the whole night, after which he stepped up and did a few numbers impromptu...

Gwathmey Astor Place

The East Village, even though very gentrified now, was always the center of the most radical political and artistic activities in NYC. This recently completed residential building, new and controversial in style and impact, has brought the forces of the old and new into visual conflict. Some love it, some hate it, some praise the interiors and very much dislike the exterior (article). Surrounded by old buildings that still have the feeling of the tenement about them, even if they cost the earth to live in these days, this "starchitected" building raises the stakes considerably - prices start at $3 million and go to $12 million. About half of the units are sold, rumor has it to wealthy media people along the lines of well known actor and director types. We are trying to imagine the changes that will certainly come when these people actually move in and start interacting in a neighborhood still full of cheap student restaurants, street vendors and fierce hold out residents from the old radical days. But as usual, we get used to changes and upheavals quickly and eventually this place will blend into the background once it gets weathered in a bit ...

Esplanade

Manhattan has done much in recent years to improve quality of life. At one time survival and crime were much more the dominant concerns. One of our great public spaces is the Battery Park City Promenade in lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center site. It is pedestrian only, runs 1.2 miles along the Hudson River and is lined with benches, parks, gardens, trees and marinas - a true pedestrian haven. There are views of Ellis Island, New Jersey, Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty and The Verrazano Bridge (just visible in the center of the photo). This promenade connects to the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. There is a link on this page for a really nice detailed map. I spent several hours there - so relaxing ...